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andreafmn · 4 years ago

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I'm Not Afraid - Chapter 6

Word Count: 3,753

Characters: Female Reader Argent Character, Original Male Argent Character, Derek Hale, Allison Argent, Scott McCall, Stiles Stilinski, Isaac Lahey, Lydia Martin, Chris Argent, Jackson Whittemore

Story Description: (Y/N) Argent arrived at Beacon Hills to put to rest her father’s sister, Kate Argent. For the first time, her family has decided to settle down and sustain a life in this interesting small town. After 17 years, (Y/N) has the opportunity to establish interpersonal relationships but will she be ready to face the complications that come with relating to her cousin’s, Allison, friends; especially, the infamous Derek Hale. She will face the adventure of being associated with the Derek and McCall pack as well as being faced with the discovery of certain aspects of her life she never imagined.

*DISCLAIMER* I do not own in any way Teen Wolf, all credits of the pre-established characters, script, and storyline belong to Jeff Davis and MTV Network. The only thing I own is Argent Reader insert, her immediate family, and her storyline, as well as her effects in the others’ storyline.

Chapter: 6/?

Warnings: mentions of murder, arson, and blood

A/N: The ending is dark, y'all, dark. If you enjoy my writing I’ll also be posting them in AO3 and Wattpad along with other stories (I also hope to start taking requests if ya’ll want) Hope you enjoy and all constructive criticism is encouraged.

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Chapter 6

I followed my father inside the house, my hands trembling and sweating. The only topic I believed they would seriously need to talk to me about was the supernatural and the family business. Just as I had told Derek, if I hadn’t met him and Scott, I would have probably joined without a second thought. But I had met them, I had been embraced by them, and I didn’t know what I was going to answer.

I sat across from my parents on the kitchen’s island. They seemed excited, but a bit anxious. Obviously, revealing to your daughter the existence of supernatural beings and the fact that the whole family hunted them wasn’t an easy task. At least, she already knew the most hard-hitting information and she wouldn’t feel blindsided.

“Honey, what we have to tell you is very important, and we don’t want you to feel like we have been keeping this from you on purpose,” my mother started. “But you need to understand that everything we have to say today is nothing but the truth. Okay?”

“Guys, what is it? You’re scaring me.”

“You know that all Argents work at the family company, Argent Arms International, and that at some point you’d probably end up working there.”

“Yeah, dad. The reason I know too much about weapons,” I laughed. I couldn’t let on that I knew more than they thought.

“Well, the company is actually a front for the real work we do behind the scenes, and the reason we’re on the road a lot,” my father started. “Since the start of our lineage Argents have been hunters.”

“Hunters of what?”

“Now, I need you to remember that what I am about to tell you is the full honest truth.” I nodded. “We hunt supernatural creatures, but mainly werewolves. You remember the tattoo I have on my arm that you asked about when you were younger?”

“Yeah, ‘Nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent’. French, we hunt those who hunt us. I always thought it was more of a psychological phrase.”

“That’s our family mantra. All Argent generations have been trained since childhood to become hunters one day, Chris and I were the only ones that decided to give you and Allison the choice once you became teenagers to know about our world. It’s completely up to you to join us.”

“So, all the training, physical and with weapons, was all in preparation for this?” My father nodded. I could see the worry in his face of how I would take this news – a one-worded answer was going to shift my whole life. It was one thing to be knowledgeable of this life, it was another to be in the center of all of it.

“We run by a code,” my father explained. “We only hunt those who have been proven to have harmed innocent lives – only adults, no young ones, and no humans. Any hunter that breaks that code is an enemy to our cause.”

“Is that what aunt Kate did?” I spoke in a hushed tone knowing this was a difficult topic for my father, one that we hadn’t touched upon in the time we had been here.

“Yes, it is” my mother answered. Her dislike towards her sister-in-law wasn’t a secret. Mom had always thought of her as arrogant and self-centered – or so she would state when in an alcohol-induced rant.

“Unfortunately, my sister did break the code, but that’s beside the point,” dad interjected. “Sweetheart, we make sure that everyone around us is protected from the creatures that are unknown. So, what do you think? Do you want to join us?”

They both studied my face, waiting on any reaction that could arise from me. All I could think is how my decision could affect the people that had made their way into my life. Allison had accepted, and although her relationship with Scott was strained, she still managed to keep him close. But what if I accepted and all it did was deteriorate all the new relationship I was trying to build?

“Yes.”

After the conversation, my father warned me that training would start soon, after I passed some sort of test. They were happy that I had agreed to join the family trade, but I noticed a sign of worry in my father’s eyes. His whole life had been built around supernatural hunting, so what was he worried about? Whatever it was, he did not express. They had both been called away on a meeting and excused themselves before leaving. With the house to myself, I basked in my decision sitting on the living room couch, petting Brody.

“What do you think, bub? Did I make the right choice?” Brody looked up at me, his tongue hanging out, a smile on his face. A bark came after and I took it as confirmation that I had. “Maybe you’re right. We’ll see, huh? Should I call Derek and tell him?”

At the sound of Derek’s name, Brody barked out happily. I laughed at his reaction and decided to call Derek. It still surprised me that Brody had taken to Derek so quickly – probably had to do with him being a werewolf and an alpha. I clicked on his contact on my phone and waited on speaker for him to pick up.

“Hello?” His voice rang out, exciting Brody once more. “Hey, buddy!”

“He’s been very excited to hear from you.”

“I can see,” he chuckled. “I can assume you made it home safely?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“What’s wrong? You sound weird.”

“How can you possibly deduct my tone from over the phone?”

“Intuition, you could say. But seriously, what’s wrong?”

“Well, my parents talked to me about the family business,” I breathed out, nerves building up inside. I didn’t know what his reaction would be, and I hope my decision wouldn’t push him away. “They asked me to join them.”

“And what did you say?” He already knew the answer. Asking was just courtesy.

“I said yes.” He kept quiet for a second, and I truly believed I had ruined our relationship before anything had ever started. “Are you mad?”

“I can’t be mad. I understand why you did it, they’re your family. Why would you think I would be mad?”

“I don’t know. I’m gonna be actively working on hunting you and your kind, that would put a strain on any kind of relationship.”

“And what kind of relationship would that be?” He teased.

“Derek, this is serious. What kind of relationship could we have when we’re born enemies?”

“Allison and Scott seem to make it work. It’s hard, but it’s not impossible.”

“So, sneaking around, worrying every second that we’d be found out by hunters. Seems viable,” I snickered. “And in no way, shape, or form stressful. Believe me, Derek, I have enough anxiety as it is. I don’t need the stress of keeping all my relationships secret.”

“Do you have any other choice?”

“I guess I don’t.”

“The way I see it, (Y/N), is you can use this opportunity and work for both sides. You can protect us from the inside, and hunt those that are a real threat. Like the Kanima,” he stated. It made sense to work with my family to protect my friends, even if my family was hunting them. “And, as much as I hate saying this, you should talk to Allison about this. She seems to be handling this way better than I thought.”

“I will. Thanks, Derek. I’ll call you soon, okay?”

“I’ll be waiting. Sleep well, (Y/N).”

“You too, Derek.”

I hung up the phone and breathed out. My life had turned a lot more complicated than I had ever imagined, and I was sure it was going to turn a lot worse. I had just started dipping my toes in the supernatural pot we were living in, something told me that there was still so much that I didn’t know. And there was one person I knew would have the answers I was seeking.

I grabbed my jacket off the coat rack and got on my motorcycle, a clear route ingrained in my brain. The night was cold, and the breeze nipped at my skin as it blew under my shirt. There was so much I had to learn, and so little time.

The drive wasn’t long, and I was still surprised I remembered the way.

The lights in the McCall house were off, but the car was in front, so I assumed Scott was home. I would have gone to Allison, but I needed to know everything, and I was sure she would try to protect me from the worst of it. Scott seemed like someone I could trust, and being at the center of everything gave him a lot more insight that I could use. I looked around the house and, remembering which room was his, found a way to climb up the side to his window. Hopefully, I didn’t encounter something I didn’t want to see.

Looking away, I knocked on his window – loud enough for him to hear, but silent enough to not alarm his mom. I clutched my jacket tighter as I waited for an answer, the wind finding me easier on higher ground. It didn’t take long for the window to slid open, revealing a very confused Scott.

“(Y/N)?” He rubbed sleep off his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you. Can I come in?”

“Sure.” He stepped aside and let me through. His room was messier than the last time I had seen it, and the bed was disheveled. On his desk, his computer was propped open, and a disarray of papers lived atop the wooden surface.

“Sorry for waking you, but this couldn’t wait.”

“Don’t worry. I couldn’t sleep anyway,” he chuckled. A lopsided smile taking place on his face. “So, what’s up?”

“Tonight, I was asked by my parents to join the hunters, and I agreed. But, going into this, I’m the one that knows the least about this world. Apart from Lydia, that is. I need to know everything you know about what we are up against. I don’t think our parents would have asked Allison and me to join now unless we were facing something truly dangerous.”

“Okay, I get it. And please don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you asking me and not Allison or even Derek? It seems like they would be the natural choice to ask about this.”

“Because they would try to shield me from the most dangerous aspects of what’s happening. Hopefully, you being a third party you’ll be truly honest about the situation we are in.” My tone came out friendly, but the underlying threat was evidently laced with it.

“Alright, where do you want me to start?”

“I want to know everything. No detail left out.”

“For me, this all started last year…”

And everything I learned. Scott had been bitten by Peter Hale, Derek’s uncle, who was alpha at the time. Most of last year he spent learning about his new werewolf life, which he believed he was alone in, until Derek, who came from a long line of werewolves that resided in Beacon Hills. The very same family my aunt had murdered. When he explained that part of Derek’s history, I couldn’t help but tear up. How could he ever stand being near me when my own blood had done that to him? Ripped him from his family in such a horrifying manner. I knew she had killed people but knowing that Derek was one of the survivors made my stomach knot.

He also told me how Derek came to be the alpha, and how Peter had held the alpha title also. And how my aunt had truly died. Everyone’s stories seemed to bundle into the same mess of supernatural chaos.

“Then, Jackson asked for the bite, which Derek gave him. And the thing about the bite, you sometimes turn into something other than a werewolf due to internal issues you could say. So, he became the Kanima, which is a lizard type-creature that looks for a master as we just recently learned. His main objective is to do as his master commands, and in his case, it's killing a bunch of people. He also secretes a venom that paralyzes people, but it didn’t work on you and Lydia.” Me? “Which was really weird – Lydia, we think it has something to do with Peter biting her. But you, we’re not sure. Because there’s no indication as to why you could possibly be immune. Unless you’re not human, but that would mean that Lydia’s not human either, and that doesn’t make sense.”

“Okay, Scott. You’re rambling,” I chuckled dryly, stopping him in his track. How he talked for so long, I did not understand. I believed Stiles was the only one with that ability. “How could you know that I was immune though? I haven’t had any contact with the Kanima or this venom.”

“Well, actually, the day we were making rock crystals in lab, Isaac had left some venom on Lydia’s crystal. You weren’t supposed to taste it, but it was a surprise when nothing happened to you. Have you ever been in contact with any other supernatural beings?”

“Seeing as I didn’t even know my parents were hunters, it’s safe to assume I haven’t. But I think finding out why I am the way I am is at the bottom of the list with this Kanima going around.”

“Yeah, and your family is making it very hard to do so when they’re actively hunting us.”

“They can’t be, they run by a code, and you guys are innocent.”

“But your grandfather doesn’t care. He lifted the code. He’s on a rampage towards all supernatural creatures, us included. They’re even keeping an eye on us at school – with Gerard running it and Victoria being our new teacher.”

“But we have the upper hand in learning about the Kanima, right? I mean, if my family is actively recruiting the younger ones, it means they are up against a threat they don’t know about, and we have the bestiary translated.”

“Kind of. I just have a feeling Gerard knows a lot more than he lets on.”

“Can’t really give insight on a person I don’t know. But anything I find out I’ll be sure to pass it along,” I smiled. “I still can’t believe all of this was happening right under my nose. How did I not notice?”

“It’s easy to ignore when you don’t know it exists. If I hadn’t been in the forest that night, I would be as in the dark as you were.”

“I guess so,” I smiled. “Thank you, Scott. For your honesty, and for trusting me with this information.”

“You’re one of us now, (Y/N). We look out for our own.”

“Thank you, Scott. I’ll leave you now to hopefully catch up on some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”

“Of course, (Y/N). We’re gonna meet up with Allison in the library to talk about the Kanima. I think it’d be good for you to be there.”

“I will.” My body was outside the house, squatting in front of the window. “Again, thanks, Scott. It’s good to know I have a friend looking out for us.”

“Don’t mention it, (Y/N).” He smiled, scratching his neck trying to hide the blush that had crept to his face. “Get home safe.”

I felt uneasy the whole ride back home. I truly couldn’t fathom how Derek old even spend a second with me after everything my family had put him through. My stomach hadn’t stopped turning, and I felt like I could throw up at any second. He didn’t deserve to have to look at a person that resembled the person that had screwed up his life. The tears started streaming from my eyes before I could stop them. It didn’t feel right, and it wasn’t right.

Somehow I made it back home. I had blacked out at some point and was moving out of muscle memory. I was glad my parents had not made it back home yet — I could let tears cascade without having to hide them. Allison and I had always looked up to our aunt. To us, she presented herself as a confident, independent, and badass woman. I still remember how one Christmas Allison and I had gotten into her clothes and pretended to be her. When Kate found us, she couldn’t help but laugh at the two little irks in front of her. She questioned what we were doing and we told her we wanted to be just like her. I recalled how I told her I wanted to grow up to be her. There’s nothing I wouldn’t have done to take that back. Had I know back then what I knew now, I would have stayed as far away from her.

“This family is all types of messed up. Huh, Brody?” My dog looked up at me, a questioning glance on his face. “What am I gonna do, bub? I don’t think I’m strong enough to face him. I really don’t.”

Brody barked, leaving kisses on my cheeks — a nimble approach to getting rid of my tears. I snuggled closer to him, enjoying his comforting presence. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep well tonight.

I was standing in the middle of Derek’s family home, the only light coming from the moon peeking through the clouds. It was a cold night, and the low temperature was seeping into my bones. My whole body ached and the air smelled of soot. I felt uneasy standing there. Now knowing its history, my heart clenched tightly. I could only imagine the pain that had ensued in what I presumed was an agonizingly slow death. The tears that escaped from my eyes burned into my skin, and my ears rang with an unknown high pitch. I kneeled on the floor, and attempt to catch m breath.

“It hurts doesn’t it?” I stood up, the unknown voice startling me. “The smell is the worst part.”

“Aunt Kate.”

“The screams weren’t that bad,” she chuckled. “They died down quickly. There’s so much screaming you can do when smoke fills your lungs.”

“Stop,” I sobbed. “Please.”

“I can just imagine them thinking it was a normal afternoon, and then the fire starts. You know, wooden houses are a very good catalyst to speed up a fire.”

“Stop.”

“(Y/N), come on.” Kate was grinning, a sinister smile that would have anyone shivering. “It’s only a matter of time before you do something similar. You and I have always been the most alike — centered, strong, morally grey. It’s in your blood, baby girl. At first, you’re gonna believe you’re on their side, but soon you’ll see that they’re all bad. Sooner or later they all spill innocent blood. It’s better to get them when they’re fresh, it’s so much easier”

“How can you talk like that? These are people’s lives you are talking about.”

“It’s different, sweetheart. They’re not normal, they’re a living abomination,” she rationalized. “This is all a game of power. We can’t allow them to have the upper hand. If we let that happen, they’ll overtake us, and there is a natural order to things.”

“Is that why you murdered a whole family of innocent beings? The family of a kid you tricked to fall for you, leaving him alone to suffer!” I yelled, the loudness hurting my throat. “You tricked Derek and used him to end his line. Why?”

“A pack is only as strong as its number. The bigger they are, the stronger they are. I was just doing my job,” she grinned. “Just like you did.”

“What are you talking about? I would never do something as heartless as you have.”

“Are you sure, honey? Why don’t you walk through that door and say that again.”

I stared at her like a deer stuck in headlights. My body shook as I slowly made my way to the dark front door of the house. Her eyes burned into every step I took, the sinus eerie grin still prominent on her face. With every step, her stare edging me on forward. There was a scene to unfold behind that door, and she was eager for me to see it.

I stretched my hand towards the doorknob but flinched when I felt the burning temperature it held. Kate said nothing as she encouraged me to open the door, daring me to face whatever I had to with just her gaze. I braced myself for the feeling and clasped my hand around the knob, turning it to reveal whatever it was that she wanted me to see.

The scene in front of me was heartbreaking. We now stood in front of Derek’s apartment complex, his loft lit aflame. The smell of ash was more prominent and the heat was almost unbearable. I tried to run into the building, the need to help any survivors growing in me. But Kate held me back, a painful grip holding onto my arm.

“Let me go!” I yelled through tears. “I need to save my friends.”

“Darling, don’t you get it?” She chuckled. “They’re all gone. All thanks to you. Look at your hands, honey.”

I did as she told, and my breath hitched in my throat when I did. My clothes were drenched in blood, and in my hands, I carried a bloody knife and a lighter. “No, I would never do this.”

“You already did.” She pointed forward, fixing my sight on the bodies that laid on the floor of the lot. “And some of them were innocent, too. But in war, there are always casualties. I mean, your cousin sided with them, and look how she ended up.”

I walked around the bodies, trying to find a sign of life in any of them as a flood of tears streamed out of my ducts.

Scott.

Stiles.

Lydia.

Isaac.

Allison.

Even Boyd and Erica were there.

But I didn’t see one important person. “Where’s Derek?” My voice croaked, barely the volume of a whisper.

“Who do you think is inside the building? It’s a fitting end for him. Dying in the way he shucked have years ago,” she laughed maniacally. “At least he’ll relate to his family when he gets to the other side.

“NO!” Once again I tried to run into the building, needing to risk my ice to save his. But she stopped name in my tracks once more, her grip tightening. “Let me go, please. Just let me go, I have to save him.”

“Honey, he’s already gone,” she scoffed. “Don’t you get it, sweetheart? There are only two ways this will end — it’s either you or them. And the sooner you accept it, the easier it will be; you are just like me.”

Tag List: @hellowinterlane @lokisgoddesofpower @mersuperwholocked-lowlife @malar-region @sunshine-flower

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maxineswritingcenter · 4 years ago

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You Saved Me - Derek Hale x fem!reader part 11

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As soon as I walked into the veterinarian office, I felt it. Like a total drain of my muscles and my head started to hurt.

“Mountain ash.” Dr. Deaton said as he came out from around the corner, “It weakens werewolf abilities so they cannot shift their form.”

“That would explain it.” I smiled, shoving my hands in my pockets.

“How can I help you, (Y/N).” He knew my name.

I squinted at him, “Have we met?”

“We have, but you wouldn’t remember. You were here with some minor injuries and your parents weren’t sure if you were going to turn and just in case…the hospital found something interesting.” He said, a small smile on his face, “But I see you have finally turned.”

I nodded, “Yeah, but I don’t know how.”

“I believe I may have an answer.” He pulled out a book from the front desk. It was a dark leather bound book, its pages were brown with age.

“It was a spell used by werewolf clans that were being hunted hundreds of years ago, in France, Scotland, England. In some cases, werewolf hunters would test werewolves in their human form with Mountain ash, rendering them unconscious. Et obscuratus lupum. Wolf Eclipse.” I looked at the book, seeing a drawing of what looked like a child, half human, half wolf.

“Parents would perform this spell to cloak their child from hunters. The Mountain ash wouldn’t affect them and they would be spared and safe until they could transform. This spell would also remove any memories of werewolf behavior from beyond that point so they couldn’t give away the rest of the clan by accident.”

I looked down at the desk, “But why now? Why did I turn now? And why am I an alpha? I’ve never killed anyone.”

“As for your turning now, many children are given back their power by their parents. Or if their parents were killed, they usually don’t unless something triggers the change - high stress, fear, terror, torture. But I can’t explain the alpha part, the only people who could were your parents.”

“Derek? Derek!” Isaac’s voice echoed through the building.

“What’s wrong?” Derek turned away from what he was doing. Isaac looked frantic and scared.

“My dad… I think he’s dead…”

“What did you do?” Derek asked firmly.

“That’s the thing…It wasn’t me.”

I woke up on the couch. Not the best place to sleep all night.

I sat up and cracked my back, twisting from side to side. I shuffled into the kitchen, seeing Uncle Noah already there.

“Morning, kiddo.” He said, sipping his coffee. He went with the dark roast this morning. Bitter. Something serious had happened.

“Morning.”

“We found Lydia, I don’t know if you heard.” He said.

I nodded, “Of course, talk of the town. Stiles is gonna get an A in economics.”

He shook his head, a small smile on his face. He was still slightly sleepy, meaning I could probably get something out of him about what’s making him leave this early.

“What’s going on?”

He yawned and raised his eyebrows. He looked around the corner then back to me, “Promise you won’t tell Stiles. And I’m only telling you because it involves one of your players.”

“Isaac?” I asked, “Is he okay?” Uncle Noah narrowed his eyes at me, clearly confused how I knew.

“I had my own questions about his home life. A guess.”

“Well we found his dad dead this morning. Mauled to death in his car in an alleyway.”

“Mauled?” Great… This is exactly what we needed with this hunter situation going around. Didn’t Derek tell Isaac that humans were off limits, especially right now? Isaac didn’t seem like the type, but if he was getting abused, maybe he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Yeah, not pretty. Oh, by the way.” He rifled through the mail, “This came for you at the station.” It was a brown envelope. It had multiple stamps and postmarks. The text was written in old English calligraphy.

“The Lunar Circle.” I shook my head, “Never heard of it.” I looked at the return address, “Scotland?”

“I guess so.” He looked at his watch, ��Alright, gotta go.” He kissed the top of my head, making his way out the door.

I got into the locker room later than usual, but in time to watch Scott and Stiles stare at a chain that was falling out of Stiles’ locker. Coach walked between the two of them, staring at the chain as it finished pooling on the floor.

“Part of me wants to ask… the other part says knowing will be more disturbing than anything I could ever imagine. So, I’m gonna walk away.” Before I could speak to the two, Coach slipped the blind fold onto my eyes, the elastic slapping the back of my head.

“Good looking out.” I nodded vaguely in his direction. Stiles shoved a bag in my hands, Scott and Stiles started shoving the chain into it and froze, Scott tensed up.

Another scent. Someone like us.

“There’s another in here.” Scott said.

“Another what?” Stiles asked.

“Another werewolf.”

Once the players were on the field, Stiles pulled me aside.

“Alright, switch Scott with Danny for goal and then you use your sniffer on the guys on the bench.”

I raised my eyebrows at him, still not over what he said the other day.

He stared for a minute, then closed his eyes, “The silent treatment, really?”

I smiled slyly, nodding.

“Oh my god.” He groaned, “Look, I’m sorry. I know you’re just trying to protect me. I get it. We can have this conversation later, please.”

I thought about it for a minute, then nodded, “Fine. I’ll go tell Coach.” I found Finstock and told him.

“Why would I want McCall in goal? McCall is co-captain. He needs to play offense.”

“That’s true, but what happens when Danny gets hurt during a match. Are you gonna put in someone from second line or someone with those reflexes?” He stared for a minute, thinking about what I just said.

“Think about it like this. Danny’s out, it’s tied and we are ten seconds from overtime. Who are you putting in? Second line or McCall.”

He nodded and chuckled, “Good thinking.” He turned back to the other players and blew his whistle, “Let’s go! Line up!” Players made their way onto the field, “Faster! Make daddy proud.” Daddy… I hate it. I scanned the line up, there was number fourteen at the end - Isaac.

Coach blew the whistle again, signaling the drills to start. Scott ran from the goal, tackling the player. Scott was many things. Subtle was not one of them.

“McCall!” Coach shouted, his eyes wide and his hair seemed even wilder.

“Yeah?”

“Usually, the goalie stays somewhere within the vicinity of the actual goal.”

“Yes, Coach.”

“Let’s try it again!”

“What the hell, man?” The player shouted. His name was… Matt Daehler if I remembered correctly.

Coach blew the whistle again, throwing another ball into play. Again, Scott knocked the next player down.

“McCall!” Coach called again, “The position’s goalkeeper, not goal-abandoner!’

“Sorry, Coach…”

“Let’s go!” He blew the whistle. Again, Scott knocked the next man down.

“Stiliniski!” Coach pulled Stiles up by his helmet. Stiles stood up from the bench on the other side of me, “What the hell is wrong with your friend?”

“Uh, he’s failing two classes, he’s a little socially awkward, and if you look close enough, his jawline is kinda uneven.” Stiles said in a rush.

Coach and I turned heads to the side, looking at McCall. Was his jaw always crooked? Had I not noticed in all of this time?

“That’s interesting.” He said, dropping Stiles' helmet. Scott knocked over Danny next, landing on top of him. Danny was having a good year so far.

“McCall!” Coach shouted, clearly frustrated, “You come out of that goal one more time, and you’ll be doing suicide runs ‘til you die! It’ll be the first ever suicide run that actually ends in a suicide! Got it?”

“Yes, Coach.”

“Yeah!” Coach glared.

Jackson looked at Scott warily, “Uh, Coach, my shoulder’s hurting… I’m gonna-I’m gonna sit this one out…” He watched out of the line and onto the bench. What’s gotten into him? Besides not the bite. Scott ran forward at Isaac. But instead of Scott taking him down, they both collided and fell to the ground. That’s when I saw Scott pause, he found his werewolf.

“Dad?” Stiles asked. I turned around, seeing Uncle Noah and two other officers heading towards the field. They must have been coming to bring Isaac in for questioning.

“Don’t tell them…Please don’t tell him.” I heard Isaac say.

I stayed back with the rest of the team while Finstock was talking to Uncle Noah. Scott was listening in on the conversation.

“His father’s dead. They think he was murdered.” Scott said.

Stiles looked at me, “Is that what you and my dad were talking about this morning?”

“There may have been something Uncle Noah told me not to tell you.” I grinned innocently.

“Come on…” Stiles sighed, “Are they saying he’s a suspect?”

“I’m not sure. Why?”

“Because they can lock him in a holding cell for twenty-four hours…”

“Like, overnight?”

“Those generally are the same amount of time, yes.” I said.

“During the full moon.” The full moon. Not only would it be Isaac’s first turn, it was going to be mine.

“Crap.” I mumbled.

“How good are these holding cells at holding people?”

“People? Good. Werewolves? Probably not that good.” Stiles said grimly.

“Stiles, remember when I said I don’t have the urge to maim and kill?”

“Yeah…”

“He does.” How Scott could tell that, I couldn’t tell. Because I didn’t get that vibe.

I made my way through the hall, seeing Uncle Noah in the hall outside the principal's office.

“What’s going on?” I asked, not seeing Isaac near.

“We’re interviewing Jackson Whittemore. He’s Isaac’s neighbor, we’re just trying to see if he knows anything. I’m just waiting to meet the new principal.”

“New principal?” I asked. Right after I spoke, the door opened. And there stood Gerard Argent. I tried to hide my shock when I saw him, since the last time I saw him I watched him cut someone in half.

“Sheriff Stilinski, I’m terribly sorry to keep you waiting. Just a phone call from one of my teachers.” He said in his brogue, he turned to me, “And Miss (Y/N), assistant coach for our lacrosse team. I have been anxious to meet you.” He held out his hand. Oh, he was anxious? Yeah definitely.

I blinked, a small smile on my face, “It’s good to meet you as well. I apologize for my shock, I was not aware that you had been hired.” I shook his hand. His hands felt cold, like the ice in his heart spread through his veins.

“I understand. It was quite unexpected. But I am excited to get started.” He played his role well. An older man happy to help and be accommodating to his new surroundings. I knew the truth though, and it terrified me. But I needed to lay low and stay on his good side for right now. He declared war, no longer following the code and Chris couldn’t stop him like he stopped Kate.

“Of course. I’m excited to work with you too, Mr…?”

“Argent.”

“Oh like Allison. She’s such a sweet girl, I always see her at games.”

“She became a fan.” He nodded. In the distance, I could hear Jackson’ walking down the hall. How did I know it was Jackson? His brand new shoes squeaked.

“Well, I gotta head out. Delivery came to the front office for the team. Pearls and crosses. It was good meeting you, Principle Argent.”

“Please, call me Gerard.” He smiled.

I grinned and nodded, “Gerard.” I looked at Uncle Noah, “I’ll see you tonight.” I made my way towards the front office, glad that the hunter couldn’t hear my heart beating out of my chest.

“You okay?” Derek’s voice echoed in my head.

I sighed, taking a deep breath, “No. They took Isaac into lock up, Gerard is the principal, and I am going to turn tonight whether I want to or not and I’m scared.”

“We’ll talk.”

I sat on the front steps, looking over the envelope. The Lunar Circle. Was this something my parents were involved in? Just as I was about to open the envelope, I got a text from Scott to meet him and Derek at Isaac’s house.

So I met them there, looking up at the sky. I had already cracked all of my knuckles so now I just was wearing a hole in my shoe from tapping.

“Are you alright?” Scott asked.

“I don’t know, Scott, were you okay when you turned the first time? Because I can recall you almost killing me the last time.” My eyes flashing red.

“Hey, I apologized for that.” Scott defended himself.

“(Y/N), look at me.” Derek stood in my line of vision. The red left my eyes and I sighed.

“Sorry, I’m just… anxious.” I clenched and unclenched my hands.

We snuck into the Lahey household, making our way down to the basement.

“If Isaac didn’t kill his father, who did?” Scott asked as Derek led us through the house. Derek moved slowly, keeping a flashlight beam ahead.

“I don’t know yet.”

“Then how do you know he’s telling the truth?”

“Because I trust my senses. And it’s a combination of them.” He looked at Scott over his shoulder, “Not just your sense of smell.”

“You saw the lacrosse thing today?” Scott asked sheepishly.

“So you saw him tackle and sniff everyone on the field, his big plan.” I added.

“Yeah.” Derek said plainly.

“Did it look bad?”

“Yeah.” Derek and I said together. Derek opened the door and we all looked down to the bottom of the basement, Scott and Derek’s eyes lit up the space a little, enough to see what was below. There were the usual things - chairs, dust bunnies, boxes.

“You wanna learn?” Derek asked, “Start now.”

“What’s down there?”

“Motive.” We started down the stairs.

“And what are we looking for?”

“Follow your senses.” Derek said. I strayed from the group, seeing dust covered toys and games, covered with age and gray. It looked like a normal basement, but it felt like something terrible had happened here. Derek took my hand in his, pulling me back to them.

“What happened down here?” Scott asked.

“The kind of thing that leaves an impression.” Derek said in a low voice. It was kind of creepy, in addition to the spider web covered basement. As we went further into the basement, we saw chains hanging from the wall. My heart sank. I took Derek’s flashlight and lit up the floor, there were groove marks in the floor. Scott bent down and placed his fingers within the groove. Scratches in the cement floor. My attention was brought to a large freezer in the corner of the with a rusted padlock. The energy radiating from the cooler made my heart drop into my stomach.

“Open it.” Derek told Scott as we stood in front of it. Scott took off the lock and lifted up the lid of the freezer. My mouth fell open in shock, tears burning at my eyes. Scratch marks, covering the entire inside of the freezer. The worst were the rust covered marks, meaning that Isaac was so desperate to fight his way to freedom that his fingers bled. I turned away from the freezer, feeling nauseous. Leaning over, my hands on my knees.

“This is why he said yes to you?” Scott asked.

“Everyone wants power.”

“If I help you, you have to stop. You can’t just go around turning people into werewolves!” Scott had a point. It was dangerous to be a werewolf right now. That’s why my parents did that ritual on me.

“I can if they’re willing.”

“Did you tell Isaac about the Argents? About being hunted?”

“Yes, and he still asked.”

“Then he’s an idiot!” Scott shouted.

I stood back up and stared at Scott, “An idiot? He’s been tortured his whole life, Scott, and he’s the idiot for trying to save himself.” There was a growl in my voice as my anger rose. Derek put a hand on my arm.

“You’re the idiot dating Argent’s daughter.” Scott looked shocked at Derek’s words, “Yeah, I know your little secret. And if I know, how long do you think it’s gonna take for them to find out?”

Derek grabbed Scott by the shoulder, “You saw what happens to an omega. With me, you learn how to use all your senses. With me, you learn control.” He lifted Scott’s clawed hand, “Even on a full moon.” Seeing Scott’s hands, I lifted mine and saw the claws had grown in. I hadn’t even felt them come out.

Scott pulled his hand away, “If I’m with you, I lose her.”

“You’re gonna lose her anyway. You know that.”

I shook my head, thinking about the night Peter was killed. The look in Allison’s eyes as she shot arrows into Derek and I was cold, no emotion at all. “Scott, don’t you remember what happened? She shot us down.”

“That wasn’t her, that was Kate.” He defended her, like a love sick puppy.

“Was it? You didn’t get to see her when Kate brought her down to that cellar and watched as Derek got electrocuted, over and over. She did nothing to stop her, she knew it was wrong but she didn’t stop her. Allison’s loyalties are never going to be with us.” My voice was calm but the shaking was starting to take over. It felt like my chest was going to burst at any moment. Even my gums ached.

“Come on.” Derek said softly in my ear. He escorted me to the stairs, a gentle hand on the small of my back.

“Wait!” We turned back to face Scott, “I’m not part of your pack… but I want him out. He’s my responsibility too.”

“Why? Because he’s one of us?”

“Because he’s innocent.”

I sat in the parking lot of the Sheriff’s office, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel. I can’t do this. How can I help break Isaac out of jail when I can’t even keep myself in control. I shouldn’t be around people. I shouldn’t be around Stiles or anyone else in the deputy department. I jumped when I heard the knocking at my window. Derek and Stiles stood there, looking a little concerned. I opened my door and got out, sticking close to Derek. If anyone could stop me from attacking Stiles it was him.

“Okay. Now, the keys to every cell are in a password-protected lock-box in my father’s office. The problem is getting past the front desk.” Stiles stared at me like I was from Mars, “I gotta tell ya, I don’t think I’m going to get used to the red eyes anytime soon.”

“Yeah, me either.” My voice had a growl too, quickly shutting my mouth.

“Well, there goes plan A. Letting you distract the front desk.” I glanced inside, seeing a woman sitting there, sipping her coffee.

“I’ll distract her.” Derek said, turning towards the building.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Stiles grabbed onto Derek’s jacket and pulled him back., “You? You’re going in there?” Derek eyed Stiles hand, then Stiles, telling him to get his hands off of him in his usual way - without words.

“I’m takin’ my hand off.” Stiles quickly pulled his hand away.

“I was exonerated.”

“You’re still a person of interest.”

“An innocent person.”

“Ah-” Stiles blew out air, “You? Yeah right.” He sighed, “What’s your plan?”

“To distract her.” Derek said impatiently.

Stiles nodded, “Ahuh, how? By punching her in the face?”

Derek let out a fake laugh, “By talking to her.”

“Is he even charming?” Stiles looked at me. Derek looked at me expectantly while I thought for a minute.

“Compared to when I first met him, he’s very charming.” I smiled awkwardly.

Stiles rubbed his temples, “Okay. Alright. Give me a sample. What are you gonna open with?” Derek only stared.

“Dead silence. That should work beautifully. Any other ideas?” Stiles asked sarcastically.

“I’m thinking about punching you in the face.” Derek said snidely. Once Stiles agreed, we made our way towards the station but before we went in, I pulled Derek aside.

“I can’t do this.” I looked up at the moon, “My body feels like it's going to fall apart and I feel so angry and-”

“Just hold out a little longer.” He placed a hand on my cheek, “As soon as we get Isaac out, I’m gonna bring you somewhere where you can let it all out and you won’t hurt anyone. But right now I need you to get inside and make sure nothing happens to Isaac. There’s a hunter in there who’s going to kill him.”

“Okay, I’ll try.”

Derek led the way into the station, Stiles and I stayed low to avoid the deputy.

“Good evening, how can I help-” She paused, looking up at Derek, “you?”

Derek gave her a thousand watt smile, “Hi.”

“Hi.” The woman said with a little tremble in his voice. She leaned on the desk.

“Um, I had a question…” he chuckled, “Um, sorry, I-I’m a little thrown. I wasn’t expecting someone…”

“Like me?” She asked.

“Oh, I was going to say ‘so incredibly beautiful’, but yeah, I guess that’d be the same thing.” Derek said sheepishly. Stiles stared at Derek’s back in disbelief. I shoved his side. He shook his head and we crawled down the hall to uncle Noah’s office.

Once inside, Stiles used a code on a keypad on the wall that opened a small hatch. It was empty inside. In the next room we heard the jingling of keys.

“Oh no…” Stiles and I ran towards the source of the noise, getting closer and closer to the cells. On our way there we were stopped short by a deputy.

“Oh, sorry,” Stiles apologized, “Just lookin’ um…” I looked over the deputy, then I saw it - an arrow sticking out of his leg. I hit Stiles' side. He looked down, then back up at the deputy.

“Ah shhh-'' We tried to run for it but he grabbed us, pressing his hands over our mouths so we couldn’t scream. I wanted to rip his hand off with my teeth but that would be putting Stiles in danger and outting myself as a werewolf to a hunter if he got away. As we were dragged back towards the cells, Stiles pulled the fire alarm.

Once in the cells, he threw Stiles and I into one of them. I clenched my fists together tightly, desperately trying not to turn. Sharp teeth poking at my lips. Stiles grabbed my arm, bringing my attention to the other cell, the empty cell. Isaac was loose. The hunter’s shout brought us back to see him being attacked by Isaac. He pinned the hunter to an examination table, then threw him against a wall. The hunter struggled but got up, trying to stab Isaac with a syringe but Isaac grabbed his arm and broke it. Isaac slammed the hunter’s head into the wall, he fell, dropping the syringe.

Derek came into the room shortly after, stepping on the syringe. The sound of glass breaking turned Isaac’s attention to us. His yellow eyes took us in, his fangs and claws sharp. He stalked forward towards us. I shoved Stiles behind me, baring my fangs at Isaac as he came closer. Derek’s roar broke Isaac out of his trance, making him fall to the floor and scramble to the corner. He looked up from the wall, looking more human. He was trembling in fear.

“How did you do that?” Stiles asked, trying to catch his break.

“I’m the alpha.” Derek smirked, his eyes red.

Ignoring the trembling the best I could, I walked over and kneeled beside Isaac. He was breathing heavily, eyes darting around the room like he was expecting someone to show up.

“Isaac.” his eyes focused on me, “Let’s get you home.” I smiled and held out my hand.

----------------

Read part 12 here!

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#derek hale x reader #derek hale fic #teen wolf x reader

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gaeilgeoirgay · 2 years ago

Text

Day Twenty Whumptober 2021

it was still his hands

Stiles Stilinski has been in Eichen House Mental Institution for three days, two hours, and thirty-seven minutes, with no one for company except the fox demon living in his mind. He’s having an amazing time, obviously.

He hasn’t slept in even longer, because the Nogitsune doesn’t believe in sleep and wouldn’t let Stiles’s body rest while it was in charge. He’d been sleep deprived before from the Nogitsune’s attempted possessions and the real thing just made him even more tired.

But he can’t fall asleep now, because when Stiles sleeps, the Nogitsune takes control. Stiles can still see the pain in Scott’s eyes as the Nogitsune twisted the blade in him and he can’t let that happen again. The Nogitsune uses Stiles to hurt his pack every time it takes control and Stiles can’t take it anymore.

The Nogitsune had made his dad think that he was going to lose Stiles to the same disease that killed his mom. It had used him to kill people with the electrical wire, to hurt Isaac. The bomb in his Dad’s office could have killed the whole station, people Stiles has known since he was a baby. Hell, even Coach Finstock got hurt by the Nogitsune!

Stiles knows he has to stay awake and stay in Eichen to keep his pack safe, but God he hates it. He’s so lonely and he’s terrified that the Nogitsune could take control at any moment. But he doesn’t know what he would do if he wasn’t in Eichen either.

He hurt so many of his pack and he knows it was the Nogitsune in control, but it was still his hands. Stiles’s body framed Derek and Chris, Stile’s body tortured Scott, Stile’s body tampered with the wires and burned Isaac.

It might have been the Nogitsune pulling the strings, but Stiles can’t help but feel guilty. None of the pack deserved anything the fox demon did, and Stiles didn’t deserve it either but this will break the trust that Stiles has in himself and the loyalty the pack has towards him. It could ruin his relationship with all of them.

Scott will know it wasn’t him that tortured him but every time Scott thinks of the memory, he’ll think of Stiles. Of Stiles’s hands twisting that blade. Scott has been his best friend for nearly two decades and Stiles can’t bear the thought of losing him to the Nogitsune’s manipulations.

Another pack member he’ll have to apologise to is Derek. It’s hardly the first time Stiles has framed the werewolf for murder and he’s not sure if Derek’s been told that Stiles was possessed. Either way, Derek is pretty well acquainted with Beacon Hills Police Department now. Whoops.

The Nogitsune has done a lot with Stiles at this point. He’s not sure what the body count is, but at least three Oni are dead and he knows that the wire killed a lot of people. He feels guilty about it, regrets that it was his body that was used to kill them. He knows, he knows it was the Nogitsune but it’s getting harder and harder to hold onto his conviction the longer he stays awake.

The Lichtenberg figure on his back itches, and Stiles remembers why he’s not sleeping. If he sleeps, the Nogitsune takes control. He takes another amphetamine from the bottle Morrell gave him. It’ll keep him awake for a while longer.

He just needs to hold out until either the mark fades or his pack figures out a solution. Either way, the Nogitsune is ending up the same way as every other monster that’s tried to kill the McCall/Hale packs. Dead as a goddamned doornail.

”You know you can’t get rid of me.”

A sudden voice speaks in Stiles’s mind and he inhales sharply. The Nogitsune hasn’t spoken in his mind like that before. It’s bargained with him sure, but it’s never declared it’s claim so loudly. The Nogitsune doesn’t plan on leaving him anytime soon and God, that scares him.

”Why would I change host? I like this body. It’s young and healthy and perfect for my needs. You’re smart too- I have a lot of knowledge and with access to those whirlwind plans of yours? Oh, I could feed from every pack in America without ever getting caught. You’ve bound me temporarily but as soon as those eyes close, I’m in control. It’s only a matter of time.” The Nogitsune laughs, amusement in its voice.

No, no, no. There has to be a way to kill the fox demon. Lydia was possessed by Peter before and they managed to break it. All of the frankly insane solutions they’ve come up with before, there’s got to be something that can be done about the demon.

”No, Stiles, there isn’t. I’m a thousand years old, you can’t kill me. And even if that therapist kills you, I’ll just find another host. It’ll be an inconvenience, sure, but it wouldn’t stop me in the slightest. But, if they do find a way to force me out of you, it won’t work completely. I will forever be a part of you, Stiles. Every bit of chaos and strife we caused together will linger in your mind for the rest of your life. I will haunt you until your dying day.” The Nogitsune hisses, it’s voice filling Stiles’s mind until it’s the only thing he knows.

It’s right though. Stiles knows he’s been changed by the Nogitsune’s presence already, and he’ll always have the memories of its possession no matter what he does. Nothing will changed the fact that people are dead, that people are hurt and it was Stiles’s body that did it with the Nogitsune in control.

After all…. He chose to give control to the demon just before it killed that old Japanese man. Katashi, the Nogitsune called him. Stiles’s may not be responsible for the Nogitsune inhabiting his mind in the first place, but he’s responsible for the fact that he gave up.

Stiles doesn’t know what to do. The Pack will figure something out, they always do, but how is Stiles meant to live with what happened to him? How many more people will be hurt before this ends?

It’s almost a relief when Brunski injects him with the Haldol. Stiles doesn’t have to think anymore, doesn’t have to wrestle with the Nogitsune for control. All he has to do is fall asleep.

#whumptober 2021 #teen wolf #stiles stilinski #void stiles #fanfiction #day twenty

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livingbythewords · 4 years ago

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Theo Raeken, Scott McCall and the concept of betrayal in friendship - a Teen Wolf meta

Recently I came upon an interesting and somewhat subversive perspective on two phenomena that have been occupying my mind for a long time – friendship and betrayal. Because these two themes are not only often present in Teen Wolf, but are at the very core of season 5, I had some thoughts on the psychological concepts of friendship and betrayal in relation to the series.

General consensus in our view on both friendship and betrayal suggests that we tend to view friendship as a natural state of things developing through mutual trust and loyalty with love at its core, whereas betrayal is viewed as disruptive event that causes mostly pain, confusion and destruction. The perspective I am talking about considers the possibility that "the roots of both [friendship and betrayal] may draw their energy from the same deep layers of the human psyche" (French, Gosling and Case, 2009) and that betrayal is in fact not something that comes out of nowhere and disrupts friendship, but rather precedes it and constitutes its inherent part. It also introduces a very interesting concept of "virtuous betrayal", which may be regarded as "betrayal in the service of a higher purpose‟ (Krantz, 2006). Both betrayal and friendship are therefore complex phenomena, which according to the authors are interdependent and have deep impact on each other.

I'm going to start from the concept of virtuous betrayal, which to me is interesting and rather uncommon and puts Theo's attempts at dismantling the McCall pack in a new light (at least to me). In Status Asthmaticus (season 5, episode 10) Theo fully reveals the motivation behind his actions:

I never lied about why I came to Beacon Hills. I'm here for a pack. I came for the were-coyote. The one whose first instinct is to kill. I came for the banshee. The girl surrounded by death. The kitsune, the beta with anger issues, I came for Void Stiles. That's the pack I want. Unfortunately, it doesn't include Scott.

What we see here is something which may be regarded as a fundamental difference in Theo and Scott's understanding of what the pack and friendship as the force that binds it means. Scott's understanding of friendship has its roots in the concept that Aristotle called vera amicitia or amicitia perfecta, a 'disinterested friendship', where the well-being of the others is of primary concern, and he is ready to make sacrifices he considers necessary (for example, his willingness to join Deucalion's pack of Alphas, knowing that there might be no way out of it once he agrees). Meanwhile Theo regards the pack mostly in terms of power and safety, where the element of friendship is non-existent. In his speech, he emphasizes only traits which are mostly viewed as negative, which is very revealing when it comes to his understanding of the world and its rules. He genuinely believes that removing Scott from his position as the pack leader is for the greater good; to him, friendship, love and caring that constitute the basis of Scott's pack are all weaknesses. This is the result of his formative years spent under the 'care' of The Dread Doctors and the values instilled in him, which are the exact opposite of what Scott believes in. Theo views the pack and leadership through the lens of utilitarianism, "to the exclusion of the pursuit of virtue and commitment to the good" (French, Gosling and Case, 2009), which is the complete opposite of what Scott believes in. He knows the Doctors' main goal – unleashing of the Beast of Gevaudan – and wants to get out alive; his main goal is survival. It is worth mentioning that he also operates from the point of a deeply rooted inferiority complex ("I'm not even a real werewolf"). Therefore he believes that what guarantees him survival and safety is securing his position as the leader of a pack by fear and control instead of mutual trust and loyalty.

This perspective raises the question of the degree to which he can be held responsible for his actions. I tend to disagree both with the view according to which Theo is considered only a victim, as well as the one which considers him only a "bad guy" without taking into consideration all the mitigating circumstances surrounding the way he was raised. We all act according to the values imprinted in us in early childhood, which shape the lens through which we view the world. Therefore, I deeply disagree with the view that Theo 'deserved' whatever happened to him. Of course, he does have the ability to make choices, and it doesn't excuse the bad ones he made (for example killing Josh and Tracy). However from his perspective, all the choices he made were necessary for both his survival and his attempts to feel whole, to be a real person instead of an artificial construct he perceives himself to be.

How does this relate to theory I mentioned above, which considers betrayal not only a fundamental part of human experience, but an inherent element of friendship, which in fact inevitably precedes it instead of outside force that disrupts it? Well, at this point it became obvious to me that this is exactly how Theo perceives the world. According to James Hillman and his reflections on betrayal as viewed through the myth of the Garden of Eden, betrayal is a natural and necessary stage in the „unfolding‟ of human consciousness (Hillman, 1975, in: French, Gosling and Case, 2009). Through betrayal, our real self is born, as it was depicted in the myth of the fall of Eden, in which the "death" described in Genesis – „of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die‟ (Genesis 2:16) – means the death of illusions that we as human beings like to hide behind, for example perceiving people as either good or bad without understanding that humans are complex beings with different motivations and initial circumstances that formed them. In the case of Theo, he was already put at a deep disadvantage comparing to the rest of the pack members and had no chance to develop positive and healthy values and coping mechanisms that would enable him to earn what he desired instead of taking it by force, which was the only way he knew for his whole life. Again, that doesn't in any way negate traumas and hardships the other members of the pack went through, neither excuses Theo's behavior and the choices he made. I'm simply pointing out the factors that were a huge part of why he did what he did.

Now, let's get back to Scott. It's interesting to me that Scott, despite the fact that this view of the world and the values he believes in are very different than Theo's, seems to understand his motivations, at least to some degree:

Scared people do things you wouldn't believe. (season 6, episode 12)

Life can’t ever be all bad or all good. You know, eventually, things have to come back to the middle. (season 5, episode 1)

Especially the second quote (regression to the mean theory) is interesting, because to some degree it agrees with Hillman's theory about betrayal being the necessary part of evolving human consciousness and the 'death' of illusions that humanity develops to avoid facing uncomfortable truths about themselves (such as Stiles rejecting the 'shadow' part of himself which then manifests as the Nogitsune). Scott's deeply empathetic and caring nature explain his enormous ability to forgive things that most people would consider unforgivable, which is reflected in the scene of his death:

SCOTT: They're not like you. They never will be.

THEO: Because I'm a Chimera? Because I'm not a real werewolf?

SCOTT: Because you're barely even human.

Barely even human. Even in his darkest moment, as he is dying at the hands of his former close friend and now his greatest enemy, Scott refuses to fully dehumanize Theo. He doesn't call him a monster. He doesn't hurl insults towards him. He still considers him a person. In fact, he never in the course of the whole show acts hostile towards Theo or mistreats him, not even once, although he would have plenty of reasons. The main emotion he expresses towards Theo is deep disappointment. He doesn't even express regret in having trusted Theo. He decides to trust him again by sending him with Mason to the tunnels and by asking him to get to the hospital to take care of his friends, which – if this trust was misplaced – could have serious consequences.

Although perspective on betrayal as a fundamental part of human nature inevitably connected to friendship may seem somewhat pessimistic, it may also seem the opposite. "In our heart of hearts, we carry both experiences together: they coexist, so that if one is dominant, the other is always present as a 'shadow' (French, Gosling and Case, 2009)". From that perspective, we can understand the necessity of forgiveness more deeply and be ready to work on and develop our ability to forgive, which can in time become our greatest strength instead of our greatest weakness. Just like in case of Scott McCall, who – by forgiving the unforgivable – made his enemy, the man who betrayed him, turned his friends against him and murdered him, into his trusted ally.

#teen wolf #teen wolf meta #theo raeken #scott mccall #text post #long post #meta #tw meta

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a-lil-bi-furious · 4 years ago

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Scisaac :D

oof, thank you for this ask, and I am so sorry this took so long to respond. It’s finals season and I grossly underestimated how much I have to do 😅 But here it is, in all it's (hopefully understandable) rambling glory: Scisaac

*aggressively hits ship button*

1) What made you ship it?

I’ve been on the Scisaac train for a looooong time now. When I was first watching Teen Wolf, during my own very teen-y but non-wolfy years, I don’t think I actually started to ship them until a bit into 3A. When I re-watched the show, though, that scene in the club with “No, I mean you. I don’t want you to get hurt.” had me as done for as Isaac. (There’s this lovely gif set someone made, too, that’s just a close up on their hands during the syringe hand-off, and all the subtle, soft finger brushing makes me go feral.) Anyway, that scene was the shipping spark, but it wasn’t really what established Scisaac as an important relationship to me.

For me, the scene in the clinic with the dog (in 2x11 “Battlefield”) is what really cemented that. It’s funny, because this scene really isn’t a shipping scene, right? This is a learning moment which focuses more on resident-mentor Alan Deaton extending to Isaac the opportunity to learn how to use his abilities for something other than anger and power. And I love it so much for that! But the interaction between Scott and Isaac makes me weak. Because you’ve got Isaac--this jaded, abused kid who holds a lot of resentment and fear and accepted the bite, most likely, to feel like he had some modicum of control in his life and the strength to not feel helpless anymore, and in the end externalized all of that rage--experiencing this moment of raw vulnerability with two people who, by all counts, should want nothing to do with him. And we can talk about how that moment in the club was probably one of the first times anyone has shown genuine concern for Isaac’s well-being (and how this act of kindness was coming from someone he’s been hostile to) in who knows how long, but what about the first moment Isaac acts in compassion and tenderness? How long has it been since he considered himself capable of feeling something that wasn’t pain, fear, or that deep seated fury which swallows everything else? How long has it been since Isaac knew any language other than violence? For a moment he’s cracked open and everything is overwhelming and rather than using his hands as weapon and shield, he’s using them to heal. He cries, and for a moment he’s even startled--maybe scared. And what does Scott do? He immediately offers a point of connection and consolation (“It’s okay, I cried the first time he showed me, too.”)

Scott has this heart which is (sometimes dangerously) open and exposed. He cares and he believes so deeply in humanity and goodness that even when he’s spent weeks(?) fighting Isaac, distrusting Isaac, he’s also been worrying about Isaac. And the way Scott acts in this scene is so soft and curious as he’s standing by, watching. It’s like he’s just been waiting for Isaac to let his guard down just enough to step outside of what Derek’s been teaching him (about anger and control, just like he did Scott). And he gets this tiny little smile on his face as he watches it happen, because I can imagine he knows almost exactly how Isaac is feeling. Scott presents it differently and he often buries it down, but he’s angry too. All the time, at so many things, but he chooses to channel his energy into helping other people. And seeing Isaac, who up until this moment has mostly shown animosity and apathy, brought to tears when he learns he can take pain from others just proves to Scott that the tenderness pays off, that caring heals. Everyone is capable of kindness if they choose it, and to watch Isaac open himself up a little bit to that option--one that hasn’t been available to him for a long time--is incredibly rewarding. It just was such a warm, vulnerable, and genuine exchange between all three of them, and given how closed off Isaac is it was a significant indicator of the safety he was starting to feel around Scott.

2) What are your favorite things about the ship?

re: above, my favorite thing about this ship is how tender and vulnerable each of them can be with the other (in their own ways) and how they challenge each other in ways they both really need. Scott encourages Isaac to turn away from aggression as a solution and to focus more on others, on compassionate and peaceful forms of resolution. (It’s uhhh....a work in progress.) Scott softens Isaac in a way I think he really needs. Conversely, Isaac challenges Scott in ways he really needs. Isaac encourages him to place more focus on himself and actually attend to his needs. And also? I just think they would have fun, because Isaac = trouble and Scott 100% enjoys shenanigans more than he acts like he does. He’s a little shit at heart, and I’m here for Isaac encouraging that.

Also, I think their relationship has a good balance because they’re very different people, but I think that they have some points of relation that run deep in ways many people wouldn’t understand. For one thing, I think that Scott has a foundation of understanding for Isaac’s experience of childhood abuse and how this informs his behavior. This is entirely up to interpretation because the show never specified beyond the time Rafael accidentally(?) pushed Scott down the stairs, but even if Scott didn’t experience physical abuse outside of this incident, it’s pretty clear that Rafael is an angry, violent drunk and that the relationship in that home was toxic and (judging by his interactions with Scott and Melissa) likely emotionally abusive. It probably wasn’t always that way; it wasn’t always that way for Isaac either. The abuse that Isaac endured was different and more severe (at least in a physical sense), and whereas Scott’s dad left when he was ten, Isaac was stuck with his dad until the kanima killed him. But I think that experience of living in a home that doesn’t feel safe is something they both share. Isaac’s initial reaction seems to be to run away or retreat when he’s unsafe, but Scott’s is to make it a safe place. I could ramble on and on, but what I’m getting at is just that I think even with extremely different personalities and ideologies, they’d be able to understand each other in very specific, personal ways and help each other cope. I’m also a huge sucker for the fact that Isaac showed up on the McCall’s doorstep and that Scott’s home literally became his home--but, really, Scott became his home. And rather than run or hide when things are scary, he defends his home now (metaphorical and physical) and keeps building it up again. (And yeah, sometimes defense means beating a guy he already hated senseless over Scott not healing and then Scott probably being less than pleased about it, but it’s a learning curve okay?)

3) Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I’m not sure what the general opinions are on this ship, especially now. But the most unpopular opinion I probably have is about Isaac’s temperament. A lot of people have a tendency to kind of take aforementioned softness and turn Isaac into a very gentle, sweet, puppy-like character, which I just don’t think is realistic. Really and truly, Isaac’s a sarcastic asshole with anger issues and not a whole lot of tact. And, though I tend to think he softens up quite a bit with Scott, I don’t think that changes the nature of his behavior, if that makes sense? I actually think part of the reason Isaac is a good match for Scott in the first place is because he’s this way. Scott has a tendency to ignore his own needs, which often means his wellbeing suffers. Isaac’s the kind of person to point out the bullshit, no sugar-coating, and stubbornly counter Scott’s attempts to excuse his own self-neglect at every turn. Isaac is loyal and caring, yes, but he’s pushy and aggressive about it. And I honestly think Scott needs a partner who won’t put up with his self-sacrifice; he needs someone who’s going to be persistent, because Scott also tends to be pretty obstinate.

In conclusion, I love them your honor.

(Send me a ship and I’ll ramble about why I do/don’t ship it!)

#ty again for the ask friend <3 #spikeface #Teen Wolf #Scisaac #Scott McCall #Isaac Lahey #Ask games #To the other ppl w asks I *will* answer them i promise...just working on an academic paper too so it'll be a bit

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asterekmess · 5 years ago

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what scott did to derek in the season 2 finale wasn’t a violation, it was poetic justice and derek’s well deserved comeuppance for being an inhuman, incompetent flop as a an alpha, werewolf and person. derek knew he deserved it, that’s why he accepted it and never held it against scott. not to mention that by inconveniencing derek for a few seconds, scott single-handedly defeated gerard and the kanima and saved derek’s and everyone’s life at the warehouse. plus, he made derek a better person

Look. I know you like Scott. But I need you to understand that what you’re saying is not only factually incorrect, but the implications of it are really hurtful.

Scott suffered a lot because he was bitten without being given a choice. Peter attacked him and turned him into something he never wanted to be. That is horrible for him, and I feel for him. What frustrates me so much is that he had his autonomy taken away from him, he suffered a huge injustice, and instead of protecting other people’s rights to choose, he decided to take away their choice the same way it was done to him. He shamed and insulted Erica and Boyd for their decisions to take the bite, completely negating their abilities to make their own choices. Derek didn’t attack them. He told them the risks, he explained what the bite was and what he expected back from them if he gave it to them. They asked for the bite. That was their choice, not Scott’s.

First off, Derek did not deserve what happened to him. A rape survivor who lost his entire family in a brutal fire that his rapist set and had his big sister murdered by his own uncle, did not deserve to have his body used without his consent to give what he considered a gift to the father of the woman who assaulted him, and it in no way made him a ‘better person.’ No. You need to be more careful about the things you say, because sexual assault survivors shouldn’t have to read horrible things like what you just typed out and sent to me. I should not have to read it.

Second, Scott’s motivation behind what he did was not justice. It was pride, a disregard for Derek’s bodily autonomy, and maybe even an actual urge to help with the Gerard situation. You could even add revenge to the list, since Gerard threatened Scott’s mom. And I have to point out, if Scott is really the amazing person that you’re claiming he is, then ‘poetic justice’ should never be something he is aiming for. Good people don’t do the thing that is the most ‘poetic.’ If Scott were as empathetic and kind as people claim he is or the show tries to tell us he is, he never would have done that to Derek, no matter how much he disliked him. There was no reason why he couldn’t have told Derek what he had planned and gotten Derek’s permission to do what he did. Scott kept the secret from him because he felt like he had the right to make decisions about Derek’s body without Derek’s consent. He did it because he wanted to be the one with the secrets for once. He outright admits that he kept the secret “Because you may be an Alpha, but you’re not mine.” He wanted to prove that Derek couldn’t control him, by hurting Derek and forcing him to give what Derek considered the greatest gift a werewolf could bestow, to the father of the woman who murdered Derek’s family. That is cowardly, childish, and apathetic, and it directly contradicts the idea that Scott is in any way True Alpha material.

Third, nothing he did was single-handed, because Derek isn’t an inanimate object or a tool. He’s a person, and without him, Scott’s plan wouldn’t have happened. Without Deaton, Scott’s plan wouldn’t have happened. Scott did not act alone.

Fourth, Derek didn’t accept what Scott did, and he did hold it against him. He felt so unsafe with Scott that he didn’t even tell him about the Alphas over the summer, didn’t ask for his help to find his Betas, because he didn’t think Scott could be trusted. Scott had already sold him out once and Derek had every right to believe Scott would do it again. (Which he then did at the end of S3A when he went to join Deucalion and left Derek unconscious in an elevator, in a hospital about to be swarmed with cops.)

Fifth, everything you are angry with Derek for, Scott did as well. So if you’re saying that Derek is ‘inhuman’ and a failure of an Alpha/werewolf/person, then you must be saying the same thing about Scott. Yes, Derek threw his Betas around and injured Isaac. Scott also threw Isaac into a wall twice (without even the pretense of training him) and dug his claws into Liam’s (I think it was him) neck without his permission. Yes, Derek chained his Betas up on the full moon. Scott abducted Liam and duct-taped him to his bathtub without explaining anything he’d done to him, and I’m pretty sure (though I don’t remember it well) that he was involved in Liam getting chained to a tree at one point. Yes, Derek kept secrets from his pack under the pretense of ‘protecting’ them. Scott also kept the truth about how Allison’s mom was bitten from her, letting her believe for months that Derek brutally attacked her mother for no reason, and lied to Kira about her losing control of her kitsune (though I also don’t remember a lot of that plotline). He also lied to Stiles about whether Lydia liked him, after making out with Lydia (who currently had a boyfriend) in the coach’s office, which is just a dick move, whether it was the full moon or not. Derek told Erica to seduce either Scott or Stiles? Scott told Allison to go on a date with Matt and KISS HIM. Derek scared Isaac away by shouting at him? Scott shouted at Allison for doing something she’d already told him she was going to do, and for telling her parents something she’d already warned him she was going to tell them, and told her to stay away from him. Derek shoved Scott against a wall? Scott shoved Stiles against a wall on his first moon! Oh, Scott was scared/frustrated/having trouble with control? Well, Derek’s sister had just died and Scott was about to expose the entire supernatural secret to a lacrosse field full of people.

Sixth, Scott didn’t defeat Gerard or the Kanima, and he definitely didn’t save the warehouse full of people. Gerard wasn’t dead after getting the bite from Derek. He had enough energy left to tell the Kanima to kill everyone in the room, and escape while no one was looking. The Kanima wasn’t defeated by Scott, it had Allison by the fucking throat and it only backed off when Stiles hit it with his goddamn Jeep and Lydia came out to face Jackson. Scott had nothing to do with that. Lydia is technically the one who saved everyone in the warehouse, and Stiles was her ride. Scott’s contribution was negligible. It was a time waster. He could have accomplished the exact same thing by just standing there and talking to Gerard until Stiles showed up with Lydia.

Seventh, Scott’s behavior was indeed a violation. And I don’t just mean the bite he forced Derek to give Gerard. He didn’t just get revenge on the guy who’d been rude to him and arguing with him for the last few months. He lied to Derek, over and over (while also avoiding ever technically lying, in much the same way Deaton often does, to avoid being caught out by his heartbeat). He learned Derek’s plans and where Derek was hiding, insinuated that he wanted to be part of Derek’s pack (knowing how important pack was to Derek), and outright yelled at Derek for supposedly keeping something from him (Which he wasn’t. Derek canonically wasn’t holding back any secrets from Scott at the time, unless you count the fact that Peter was alive, which Derek had every right to assume Deaton had already told him) all while he was the one working for Gerard. (That is literally gaslighting. Like, literally.) He exposed Derek and his pack to Gerard, feeding him information on the same kids that he insisted were ‘his responsibility’ that probably helped Gerard get ahold of Erica and Boyd to torture them. It was a violation of Derek’s consent. A violation of Derek’s trust, of Erica and Boyd and Isaac’s trust. And a violation of Stiles’ trust as well, since Stiles had no clue what Scott was doing.

You came to my ask box after seeing the various posts that I’ve made, with documented moments from the show and well reasoned arguments and frustrations with Scott McCall’s character. Are you seriously telling me you didn’t think I’d have a comeback?

#personal #go for it #Meta ramblings #anti-scott mccall #hate mail #rant #I had to completely rewrite this because tumblr is stupid and deleted my response the first time #apologies for no 'read more' i'm too frustrated to put it in #i'll add one to the next long post #Anonymous

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anxiousstark · 4 years ago

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S3 13 | Galvanize

BIG MASTERLIST | TW REWRITE | MIATCHEMBER | KO-FI

Stiles Stilinski x Reader! Half-sibling!Mccall

Word count: 2405

Warnings: Mentions of injuries, blood, death, swearing (always), etc.

A/N: These kind of chapters are boring but necessary for the story. It would be nice if at least, the people who asked to be tagged did vote. It takes time to write, to add things or to think of future scenes.

↪ PLEASE RESPECT MY WORK. DON’T COPY, TRANSLATE OR CLAIM THEM AS YOURS. NOT ON THIS WEBSITE OR ANOTHER. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED.

"You're back in school?" Those were the first words that came out of Scott's mouth as the twins parked their motorbikes next to my brother's one. Of course, Scott's bike didn't look as expensive as the other two.

"No, just to talk."

"Oh." Stiles and I walked closer to where my brother was standing. "That's kind of a change of pace for you guys. Usually, you're just hurting, maiming, and killing." His hands were gripping the straps of his backpack.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "You need a pack. We need an Alpha."

"Yeah. Absolutely not." Stiles intervened again, nodding his head, and patting Ethan's chest, who hit his hand off him. "That's hilarious, though."

"You came to us for help. We helped."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "You beat his face into a bloody pulp." I furrowed my eyebrows. "That's not helping. In my opinion, that's actually counter-productive." Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I glanced to my side. Stiles was beaming at me, a goofy smile on his face.

"Why would I say yes?" My brother asked.

"We'd add strength. We'd make you more powerful." Both of the twins nodded their head at the same time. "There's no reason to say no."

Stiles dramatically rolled his eyes.

"I can think of one." Isaac appeared from nowhere, and I quickly sent him a look, asking if he was feeling better. At the forest, he didn't have as much luck as I did. A trap closed around his leg. "Like the two of you holding Derek's claws while Kali impaled Boyd. In fact, I don't know why we're not impaling them right now." Stiles agreed with him, nodding his head.

Aiden didn't hesitate to show his fangs and flash his eyes. "You want to try?"

Scott swiftly grabbed the curly-haired boy's arm, holding him back from getting closer to one of the twins. "Sorry, but they don't trust you. And neither do I." We ignored Aiden and Ethan, walking into school.

As soon as we opened the door, a roll of toilet paper hit Stiles right on the face. "All right, that's my face!" His hands immediately patted the other boy's back. "Hey, dude, good decision, buddy. Good Alpha decision."

"I hope so." He sighed.

"No, you know so." We walked to our lockers. The Hazel-eyed boy fastly grabbed his things while I did the same.

I noticed that my brother was dumbfoundedly looking somewhere. "What are you looking at?" I asked him, closing my locker while Stiles took his backpack off to fill it with some books.

"Me?"

"You," I replied.

"You looking at her?" Stiles followed his gaze for a couple of seconds.

"Her? Who her?" Oh, come on, Scott. It was so obvious.

"Her her. Kira." Stiles answered back. "You like her?"

"No." He spoke up too fast. I smirked while staring deep into his eyes. "Hey Y/N, don't do that. Don't d-. Okay yeah, she's okay. She's new."

"So, ask her out." The Stilinski boy finally shut his locker.

"Now?"

"Yes, now." I intervened. "She is leaving."

"Right now?" He asked again while Kira seemed to walk away.

"Right now." He patted my brother's back. "Scott, I don't think you get it yet. You're an Alpha. You're the apex predator." I rolled my eyes as Stiles gave him advice related to girls. "Everyone wants you. You're like the hot girl that every guy wants." I chuckled.

"The hot girl?"

"You are the hottest girl." Stiles smiled as if he was sure of what he was stating.

Isaac, who had come back, glanced between the three of us. I just shook my head. "What?"

"I'm the hot girl." Scott's expression was earnest as he raised his eyebrows.

Isaac nodded his head. "Yes, you are."

I felt an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to a warm body. "So you swing both ways?" To my question, Stiles seemed surprised. "I thought I was the hot girl, but I can see you think my brother is the hottest girl." I jokingly tried to look mad. "I guess you are just dating me to make my brother jealous." My tone was dramatic. "It was Scott McCall all along. He is the one you desire."

As soon as my boyfriend noticed that I was joking, he couldn't help but laugh loudly. "Don't tell Scott." His mouth came near my ear as he whispered the following words. "You are the hottest girl."

"I was hoping so." A peck was placed on the corner of my mouth. My gaze shifted as soon as I saw Mr. Stilinski on one of the corridos, which couldn't mean anything good. "Hey, Stiles," My hand rested on the middle of his chest as he continued kissing me. "Isn't that your dad?"

His gaze moved to where I was looking. He wandered towards his father, bringing me with him. "Wait a minute, wait a minute! The William Barrow? The Shrapnel Bomber? Spotted nearby?"

"A little closer than nearby, actually." A shiver ran through my body, even though I didn't know who that person was. If Stiles seemed distraught, then it couldn't be anything good.

"Dad, what's really going on here?" Stiles brought me closer to his side, muttering his words.

We had found Allison, Lydia and Isaac. Agent McCall didn't want anyone coming in or out of the school. "Barrow went after kids with glowing eyes?" We walked down the stairs as Isaac asked all the questions that could come to his mind. "He said those exact words?"

"Yeah. And no one knows how he woke up from anesthesia. Just that when they opened him up, they found a tumor full of live flies, which in any other circumstance would be all kinds of awesome." I punch his arm, which made him groan and pout.

"Did you say flies?" As soon as Lydia asked that, a fly buzzed next to my ear, and I quickly moved my arm, trying to scare it. Allison's eyes went from Lydia to me. "All day I have been hearing this sound. It's like this buzzing."

Again, I felt like a fly was near my ear. The Argent girl continued glancing at me, but this time, everyone was staring at me too. "Like the sound of flies?"

"Exactly like the sound of flies." Lydia nodded her head. "Y/N, there isn't any fly around you."

What?

We ran towards Scott when we finally found him. "Hey, dude, where the hell have you been?"

Lydia came closer to us. "The police are leaving. Why are they leaving?"

"The police?" My brother glanced at me, confused.

"They must have cleared the building and grounds, which means he's not here?" I tried to have a little hope.

"Who? What are you guys-."

"He has to be here. That sound The buzzing I've been hearing? It's getting louder." She glanced at me. "She has been hearing it too."

"I only heard it when you said it! I'm not hearing it now!"

"How loud?" Lydia closed her eyes as soon as Stiles asked her, trying to control her breathing. So it was loud, quite loud.

"Scott and Isaac are in the basement, right?" Lydia asked as we looked around the art room. Her voice was a mere whisper.

"Yeah, with Ethan and Aiden. The plan is they meet in the middle, in the boiler room."

"All of the wolves. All of the ones with glowing eyes are in the basement at the boiler room?"

"Not really," Stiles replied. "Y/N," He pointed at me. "She also has glowi-. Oh, my God! An engineer could use a boiler room to blow up the whole school."

"We have to get them out of there."

And we did, Stiles pulled the fire alarm. However, we were caught by Coach, who expressed his desire for punching Stiles's face. Thankfully, we got out of school, meeting the rest. But Scott and the twins weren't able to pick up a scent.

Scott had been invited by Mr. Yukimura to have dinner with him and his family, and let me tell you he was quite excited. Melissa was working all night, and she didn't want me to be alone at home. Therefore, Mr. Stilinski was happy enough to let me stay with them.

I laid on Stiles's bed as he was adding things to his board. "Scott has never eaten sushi before. He is going to make a mess."

I chuckle. "Maybe they won't eat sushi."

He turned around to glance at me. "They are Japanese."

"Stiles," I groaned. "That's stupid. Japanese people don't eat Japanese food all the time! They can eat other foods too!" He shrugged. "What do the different coloured strings mean?" I asked while I glanced to the strings that were on top of his bed.

"Oh, just different stages of the investigation. So green is solved, yellow is to be determined, blue's just pretty." I couldn't help but chuckle. "They are the colour of your siren's eyes."

I got up from the bed, walking closer to him until I was engulfed by his arms. "My siren side is melting."

He snickered. "What about your other side?" He hummed, his lips trapping my bottom lip. "Does she like it too?"

"Hhmm," I pecked his lips, my tongue peeking out to lick his bottom one. "She is a little more complex." His tongue parted my lips, going inside my mouth as his hands rested on my cheeks. Our breaths mangled while our tongues continued grinding against each other.

"I believe she clearly likes it." He stopped kissing me as he seemed to notice something. "We are going to school." I stared at him, puzzled. "We are going to school. Now."

And that's what we did.

"This is just like the first time." I referred to Stiles, Lydia and I being inside the school at night. "So what are we looking for?" I squeezed one of Stiles's hoodies around my body, hating the cold temperature. He ignored me, opening a door that had a warning sign. "That was supposed to be locked." I glanced at the sign 'Caution. Chemical Storage.'

"Yeah. I know." He took his phone out, turning on the lantern. "Notice anything else?"

I entered the room. "Crystal bottles."

"The smell of chemicals. They wouldn't have been able to catch his scent." Lydia added, offering me one of her gloves as my hands were freezing. I offered her a smile, grabbing the soft item.

My boyfriend nodded his head, glancing at the floor. There was some shattered glass, and what looked like blood. "He was here, performing very minor surgery on himself. Lydia was right."

"I don't feel good about this, Stiles." I peered around.

"Probably because he was here to kill somebody."

"But who?"

"That's what we gotta figure out. We could spread out, start looking for anything." We looked around the room, in hopes of finding something else that would tell us where that crazy dude could be. "Lydia, what are those?"

As I heard Stiles, I glanced up, seeing Lydia walking towards something written on the blackboard. "Atomic numbers." I answered before the strawberry blonde girl could.

"Is it a formula?" The boy walked closer to me.

"Not really. 19's potassium. The first two make potassium iodide." She grabbed chalk, writing a K next to the number 19.

"Potassium is K?" Both Stiles and I asked at the same time.

"From kalium, the scientific neo-Latin name." Next to another number, she wrote the letter I.

"What's radium?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and getting closer to the blackboard. "Is it R-A?" As soon as the words came out of my mouth, Lydia nodded her head. Kira, he wanted to kill Kira. "We need to call Scott."

Stiles was already calling my brother while pacing around the room. "Nothing, he isn't answering his phone." He glanced at me, biting the inside of his cheek. "W-What do we do?"

"We are going to Kira's house." I quickly walked to the door but stopped when Lydia and Stiles weren't following me out. "I know where she lives, okay? I made my research too." Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. "I wasn't going to let my brother go to a stranger's house! Have you watched any criminal documentary?" I rolled my eyes. "Let's go!"

When arriving at Kira's house, we found my brother lying on the ground. He had blood running down his forehead. "Barrow, he took Kira!" I nodded my head, more worried about his condition. He seemed to notice, squeezing my right hand and offering me a smile.

"We know. He was after her the whole time."

"We have to think of something. He's going to kill her."

"I knew he was there." Lydia seemed to be distracted. "How did I know that?"

"Because you heard the flies, right?" I asked.

My brother's gaze shifted to her. "What do you hear now?"

"Nothing. I feel like I can do this. But I don't know what to do. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue, and I don't know how to trigger it. I just I swear to God, it literally makes me want to scream."

"Okay, then scream." Stiles stepped closer to her. "Lydia, scream."

And she did. We all covered our ears, faces scrunched. "It's not flies. It's electricity."

"Wait a second, Barrow was an electrical engineer. He worked at a power substation."

"What substation?"

Scott and Stiles got out of the jeep. "Okay. Wait here, all right?" The Stilinski boy glanced at Lydia and me. I was going to protest, but he didn't let me do so. "Just wait for the cops to come."

"Why?" Lydia asked.

"I only got one bat."

Both boys disappeared inside the building. And as soon as I saw them disappearing, I quickly moved in the car, trying to grab my backpack. "What are you doing?" I only offered her a smirk. "Stiles will kill me if he knows that I let you go inside!" She grabbed my wrist. "You aren't going!"

"Lydia?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry." I moved the seats of the back, getting inside the truck of the jeep as I knew Stiles had closed the car. Once I was inside, I used all my strength to kick it, opening it. Then, I also went into the building.

But it seemed like they didn't need me because Kira was something supernatural.

TAGLIST: @og-baby-ob14 - @savemypostcards - @cas-loves-pizza - @used-avocado - @mvrylee - @bilesxbilinskixlahey - @honeydoll-stark - @arieltheworldisamess - @softpeteparker - @kit-kat-katie99 - @thatsuperherosidekick - @bexbetterxthanxwords - @big-galaxy-chaos - @littlemiss-forgotten - @enchantedcruelsummer - @coldfreakeggsexpert - @merla123 - @sammypotato67 - @weirdowithnobeardo - @maggiesblogsblog - @itskindyl - @bobo-bush - @moongoddesskiana - @multifandxm353 - @irwxnhugsx - @xoprincessmel - @iclosetgeek - @andreagf956 - @niawoods - @anerroroccurrrrred - @perrytheplatypus11 - @trustfundparker - @nmriia - @steve-harringtonnn - @trustfundparker - @brithedemonspawn - @weirdowithnobeardo - @my-soul-is-the-moon - @azayamari - @poguestyle17 - @bibliophilewednesday - @10minutesofscreentime - @momentitodebruh - @drikawinchester - @perrytheplatypus11 - @my-soul-is-the-moon - @linkpk88 - @royalreadery - @sweetest-serpent01 - @teenwaywardasgardian - @sadcupofcoffee - @maliyamay - @seninjakitey - @tairisceana -

People in bold means it doesn’t let me tag them.

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feelingfredly · 4 years ago

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The Hunting of the Snark... I Mean Spark

Part 1 of What I Tell You Three Times Is True

Peter listened as the water stopped and various cabinets in his bathroom were opened and closed and waited for his guest to reappear. Stiles, scrubbed red from the shower, walked into the room rubbing viciously at his hair with a towel. The fragrance of borrowed shampoo clung to him even more tightly than the damp fabric of Peter’s bathrobe and seeing the young man like that, covered head to toe in Peter’s things, in Peter’s scent, caused his wolf to lift its head and rumble in satisfaction, even if the reason the boy was in his den was less than optimal.

“Three times, Peter.” Frustration sharpened Stiles’s voice, pulling the man’s attention back from his wolf’s wanderings. “You know what that means.”

Peter knew. One is an incident, two is a coincidence, three's a pattern, and four is enough for a warrant. Not that they could get a warrant, even if they did end up with a fourth victim. It didn’t matter to Stiles, though. He, like his father, was a cop at heart—protect and serve was etched in their bones. Usually, Stiles also had a streak of ruthless practicality that balanced that idealism out, but this time was different. Peter hoped it didn’t come back to bite him in the ass.

“Proving the pattern to the rest of the pack is going to be… difficult.”

Amber eyes rolled and Peter smothered a smile. It still surprised him how much pleasure Stiles’s snark generated in him. Like calling to like.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Stiles flung his towel at the hamper and missed. From four feet away. Peter shook his head. How the boy had survived this long in a world full of predators was truly a mystery. “Lydia will believe me. Probably. And Danny. But…”

“But they’re not wolves.” Peter nodded and leaned back in his chair. “They aren’t the ones who’re going to want to believe it’s possible in the first place.”

Stiles walked to the corner of the desk that dominated the office and propped one hip on it, everything about his posture telegraphing his irritation with the situation.

“Scott’s going to think I’m crazy—literally—and he’ll suspect anything coming from you because you’re clearly still trying to manipulate him.” His lip curled a fraction and Peter wasn’t sure if it was the beginning of a smile or a snarl. “That means we’re going to have to go at the problem sideways, again, because as much as I’d like to say he wouldn’t go there again, I’m sure you’re with me on the Never Going Back to Eichen bandwagon.”

Peter gave his own eyeroll at that. “Our True Alpha does have a limited repertoire of responses, and you’re right, Eichen House is not on my list of spa retreat destinations. My question for you is simply: since we know he won’t listen to reason, why bother trying to convince him? It isn’t as if the people Hengstrom is using aren’t willing. If Scott wants to throw in with the crazy mage, why not let him?”

Stiles shifted his weight, swinging a lean leg absently. “I guess it’s the lying that gets me, because I don’t believe he doesn’t know exactly what his miracle cure does. You can’t wield that kind of magic if you don’t understand it intimately. That leaves two options,” he held up one long finger. “One, he’s leaving details out because he doesn’t think they’re important—which would be stupidly shortsighted—or two,” he held up a second finger, “he knows the details are important and he’s not telling people on purpose, which leads to another whole line of questions about why he’s keeping them secret and what he’s getting out of the de-wolfing process that’s so important that he doesn’t want to risk scaring his victims away.”

Peter nodded. When the mage arrived, he’d introduced himself to the local Alpha and had bemoaned the fact that Deaton wasn’t currently in residence because he wanted to share his new skill with the druid. Invoking the emissary’s name worked like magic—all puns intended—and the True Alpha had warmly welcomed the man to the territory and had immediately begun questioning him about this new and wonderful spellwork he’d invented. Hengstrom had been hesitant to speak of it, saying he didn’t want to step on Deaton’s toes—but Scott reacted the way he always did when there was something new and shiny that he wanted: he poked and prodded and wheedled and insisted until the mage caved and laid out the framework of what he called his “life’s achievement.”

It was delicate work and Peter had been impressed with Hengstrom’s ability to play the young Alpha right up until he uttered the phrase “werewolf curse.” McCall’s spine had stiffened and red crawled up his neck as he ducked his head and looked away, shame and self-loathing oozing from every pore. Every wolf in the room stiffened, feeling the negativity of their leader through the pack bonds, and Peter was no different. His gums itched and his fingers ached, claws and fangs closer to the surface than they should be, and he knew his wolf was feeling threatened in a way that born wolves weren’t supposed to feel.

The mage promised Scott, and any other bitten wolves that were interested, the chance to be human again, and he knew immediately what the True Alpha’s reaction was going to be. Hell, anyone with a braincell that had known the boy for more than two seconds knew what he was going to do. He never even paused to think how giving up his wolf would affect the rest of the pack. No, McCall was consistent—he wanted what he wanted and screw anyone that might get in the way of him getting it.

He did, at least, ask a few questions and the mage passed his minimalist lie detector test—Yes, he’d performed the rite dozens of times. The rite had 100% efficacy. All the people he helped went back to their human lives with nary a trace of wolf left in them. Here’s an oddly convenient list; call them if you want to.—And then the idiot didn’t think, didn’t pause, didn’t hesitate for a minute, he simply reached out and swept the mage into the biggest hug Beacon Hills had ever seen, and then had run off to tell Kira the good news.

Stiles and Peter watched the interview silently, doubt clear on both of their faces, but once their Alpha had made his approval clear, Stiles shook the man’s hand briefly, took the list of “cured” that was proffered, and directed the mage to the hotel in town that the pack had an arrangement with.

Then Stiles went to work.

It took the Spark six hours to contact most of the people on the list, but there were a few he hadn’t been able to get through to. Finally, one number that had been calling incessantly—his magic nagging at him that it was important—picked up and the tearful woman on the other end informed him that yes, her husband, Oscar, had undergone Hengstrom’s procedure and had been thrilled with the results. Unfortunately, he’d died a few months later. They hadn’t been able to determine a cause of death—he simply didn’t wake up one morning. It was possible that the procedure had been hard on his heart or something, but no one could really say. She was sorry she couldn’t be more help.

After another six hours he’d found two more people who’d had their wolves removed who had mysteriously fallen ill afterwards. One was currently in a coma, and the other had been committed to a mental institution after having attempted to kill his family, the whole time screaming for them to kill him, please kill him. That he couldn’t stop it. It wouldn’t let him.

That report reminded Stiles too much of his possession by the Nogitsune; he and Peter were on a plane the next morning. Three hours and several Jedi mind tricks after landing, they’d gotten to visit the last victim… and the minor demon that was squatting in his soul. Peter had struggled with seeing the man strapped to his bed, flashbacks of his own time imprisoned in a similar bed with nothing free to move but his head setting his teeth on edge, and Stiles… well, the Spark had his own fight to fight. His spark hovered just beneath his skin, setting the boy almost aglow, and while his wolf was used to the temptation, the demon was immediately overwhelmed with hunger.

The body on the bed strained and lurched against its bindings as they listened to it rave about how Stiles was perfect, how the fire under his skin was nice but the darkness around his heart was beautiful and infinite and vicious, how he had a demon-shaped hole in his soul that just cried out to be filled. Stiles waited as every word left a wound behind, and Peter could smell the blood on him as he bit his lips to remain silent. Finally, the demon released its host deciding that it was worth giving up the body it had for the chance of controlling the power of a Spark. Peter sucked in a breath, terrified that they wouldn’t make it out of the hospital without a demonic stowaway, but then his impossible, incredible boy burned the creature out of existence in the flash of an eye before it could jump bodies. He listened as Stiles’s breath caught on a silent sob in his throat, and Peter ached to gather the bowstring-taut Spark into his arms and tell him that yes he was perfect, that the demon had no idea how beautiful his darkness truly was because he used it to defend the ones he loved, that if there was a hole in his soul Peter would crawl into it and fill it and wrap him up in protective arms, keeping him close, and safe, and his… but he knew that all it would take would be one uninvited touch and Stiles would shatter, so he kept his hands to himself, and bided his time.

A moment later the victim woke from his possession in grateful tears, but when Stiles explained that he couldn’t repair the holes in the man’s spirit that had allowed the demon to take up residence in the first place, he insisted they leave him in the hospital, that it was where he wanted to stay, where he needed to stay. He’d do anything to protect his family from going through that nightmare again.

Stiles told him that evening that he suspected the man wouldn’t be around long enough to regret that decision; his life force was already leaking out through the holes in his aura. Listening to the Spark whimper in his sleep as he thrashed on the hotel bed that night, Peter knew Stiles would regret the decision enough for the both of them.

One good thing came out of the whole nightmare. After explaining what had happened to her husband, the last victim’s wife was more than willing to answer their questions, and she was much more expansive than the mage. She told them that Hengstrom only pursued weres that had been changed within the past five years, claiming that anyone that had been a werewolf longer than that wouldn’t ever be able to truly erase the behaviors they’d learned. He’d asked other questions—where her husband fit in the pack hierarchy, how he’d been turned, whether his wife was a wolf—before agreeing to remove her husband’s wolf, but that the one thing that seemed most important to him was whether they were going leave the territory after the procedure. He implied that continuing contact with the members of the pack would hinder her husband’s healing process. He said that her husband’s scent would change, and the other wolves wouldn’t be able to trust him anymore and that it would be safer for everyone if they cut ties completely, but he’d also said that any exposure to the supernatural would make it harder for her husband to transition back to his human life. She hadn’t questioned it at the time, but it had made the whole situation more difficult when he’d started showing signs of deterioration because she didn’t have the pack as a support system and since they didn’t have their emissary available to ask for advice.

Oh, and their emissary hadn’t been around when Hengstrom had arrived, either.

Stiles had looked at Peter at that point and quirked an eyebrow, an entire conversation in the tiny movement. Who knew they would ever actually be sorry that Alan Deaton wasn’t around?

Stiles stopped swinging his leg suddenly. “Did Scott ever mention that Kira was a kitsune?”

Peter thought back over the conversation he’d witnessed and shook his head. “No. Hengstrom asked if he was mated to another wolf and Scott said no, but that was as far as it went. Why?”

He paused and raised his eyes to the Spark’s as the penny dropped. Oh. Ohhh.

Scott was going to have a problem. Kira wasn’t a wolf, but she was a kitsune but more importantly—she was pack. The only thing McCall valued more than his own vaunted humanity was his mate, and after the youngest Argent died, he’d become even more protective of the little fox.

Stiles grinned, sharp and vulpine, clearly ready to hunt. “I think we need to have a little chat with our Alpha’s mate.”

Peter grinned back letting his own fangs drop a fraction and resting a heavy hand on Stiles’s knee. “You know, sweetheart, I think you’re right.”

***

Kira wasn’t alone when they got there, but it could have been worse. Ms. Yukimura wasn’t a fan of Stiles’s—she still saw too much of Void in him to ever be comfortable—but she would listen more than Scott would, so Peter considered it a win.

“And you destroyed the demon? You’re positive?” She lifted a delicate hand and poured another cup of tea. If Peter hadn’t been watching so closely, he’d have missed the fractional tightening of muscles in her fingers.

“As positive as I can be,” Stiles replied. “I know it isn’t in Peter, and I know it wasn’t in Mr. Anderson when we left him. If you’d be so kind as to make sure I haven’t brought him along with me, I would be… grateful.”

It cost the boy something to make the request, but when the older woman’s eyes settled on him and she nodded once, the silent stress that had been hiding in his spine melted away and Peter could almost feel a sigh of relief pass over him.

“There is nothing… new in your aura, Spark,” she said with a dip of her head, and Peter had to fight back a growl at the cautionary phrasing and silent implication that there was something extra in his aura already, but that was a fight for another day. “The demon must, then, have truly been vanquished. Your skill has grown. I congratulate you.”

Stiles forced himself to dip his head in acceptance. His skills had grown through necessity, and so much of that necessity could be laid at this woman’s feet. It was amazing that he was even able to stay in the same room. Peter wasn’t sure he could have.

“I am simply sorry that I wasn’t able to do more for Mr. Anderson. As I said, the procedure that Hengstrom subjected him to has left his spirit shredded. He will die; it’s just a matter of how long it will take.”

Kira twisted her hands in her lap. “You’re sure? There isn’t anything else that could’ve caused the damage?”

Stiles shook his head. “I’m sorry, Kira, but you know I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t sure. I know how much this means to Scotty, and yeah, him giving up his wolf would throw the pack into chaos, but we’ve dealt with chaos before and survived. I wouldn’t take this chance away from him on a hunch. The problem is that because of the chaos we’ve been through,” he threw a hard glance at the elder kitsune, “Scott doesn’t trust my judgment. He thinks I’m paranoid.” He let out a bark of laughter. “He isn’t wrong. But neither am I about this.”

Kira pushed her hair behind her ear and sighed. “I believe you. I was talking to mom before you came about how something about this just felt off. Hearing you explain what you’ve found just makes that feeling stronger.”

Peter sat back and crossed his legs. “So, how do we make your husband listen to the truth?”

Kira quirked a lip and tilted her chin to one side, her inner fox clear and sharp. “The way I see it, the only way he’s going to believe it is if it comes from Hengstrom himself.”

Stiles’s whole body stilled, his normal state of constant movement frozen. “I like where you’re going with this, but it’s going to be tricky.”

Kira looked at her mother and they both smiled their trickster-kitsune smiles. “Leave that to us.”

***

In the end, it was surprisingly simple. Painful, but simple.

“You should let him try this on Peter, first.” Stiles said, innocence personified.

Scott perked up. “On Peter? But he wouldn’t want to…” he swallowed what he’d been intending to say and turned to look at the mage. “Could you actually do that? Take the wolf from a born wolf?”

Hagen Hengstrom looked as Swedish as his name sounded. Tall, blond, buff—he didn’t look like any of the mages Peter had ever met, but then Stiles himself didn’t look like them, either. His blue eyes were pale and clear and there was something old and cold in them that Peter didn’t want to be close to, but he was bait, so, he stepped forward.

Hengstrom shook his head, one fist tightening minutely. “No. Definitely not. There is nothing in him that isn’t infiltrated with wolf. He’d go mad without it.”

Stiles snorted. “Like we’d be able to tell the difference.”

Scott looked surprised that he would say such a thing, but then laughed. “I suppose you’re right. Not much to compare it to as far as sanity goes.”

Peter forced himself not to snarl at the boy and let Stiles go on.

“I mean, if the procedure is 100% effective…” he left the sentence hanging, and the mage stepped right into it.

“It is 100% effective,” he insisted, “it’s just that his wolf is so embedded in him that it would rip his soul to pull it out.”

Stiles tilted his head and raised an innocent eyebrow. “Rip his soul? That doesn’t sound good.”

Kira shifted closer to Scott and put an arm around his waist. “No. No it doesn’t.”

Scott looked down at his wife and frowned. “You said before that it didn’t hurt.”

Hengstrom froze and then shook his head. “That isn’t what…”

Scott frowned harder. “You said you’d performed this rite dozens of times.”

Hengstrom nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! I’ve done this dozens—hundreds—of times. It does exactly what I’ve promised.”

Stiles made a non-committal sound. “But actually, all you said was that it removed the wolf and the people went back to being human after. You didn’t say anything about whether they were healthy and happy, did you?”

Kira tugged on Scott’s shirt. “Did he?”

Scott shrugged. “I don’t actually remember. I was so excited by what he was telling me that I don’t think I asked.” He turned back to the mage who looked decidedly paler under his golden tan. “What happens to the people after you take their wolves? Are they healthy? Can they… have families? Does it mess with any of that?”

The mage frowned and took his time before answering. “I don’t stay in touch with all of the people I’ve helped, so I don’t know exactly how they all are. But I can assure you the rite did exactly what it was supposed to do, and they were all completely human afterwards.”

Stiles made another noise. “I’m sure it’s fine, Kira,” he waved his hand between Hengstrom and Scott, “I mean, if there was a problem I’m sure Deaton could fix it, and the pack would be here to…”

Hengstrom lurched forward, hand up. “Um, that’s not…” he swallowed, “I mean, I’m certain that Druid Deaton is very skilled, but this magic is specialized, and he wouldn’t be familiar with the process. It’s best if the blessed can accept the return of their human status completely, make a clean break with their previous packs and limit their exposure to the supernatural. As humans they’re so much more susceptible to injury and you wouldn’t want to endanger your family that way unnecessarily, would you? You and your wife would be able to move on, have children, start your own veterinary practice without all of this hanging over your head.”

Scott’s frown had deepened to the point that Peter thought he could get a playing card to stick in the crease between his eyebrows.

“My wife is supernatural.” He hugged Kira tighter to him and Hengstrom frowned.

“But you said you weren’t mated to another werewolf!”

Kira looked at him, adorable confusion on her face. “He’s not. I’m a kitsune. I’m surprised you couldn’t feel my magic. Dr. Deaton says it’s unmistakable. Plus… I’m pack.”

Hengstrom looked bewildered, wondering how things had gotten so out of hand.

At that point Liam stepped forward, his back stiff and eyes slitted. “It seems to me that there’s more to this rite than you initially let on. So, tell me just one thing: If Scott lets you take his wolf, what will happen to his Alpha spark?”

Peter forced his face to stillness. Finally, someone was asking the right questions.

The mage frowned. “I’m not sure. I’ve never removed the wolf from an Alpha before.”

The whole pack took a step towards Scott, suddenly sensing the threat to their Alpha.

“You don’t know?” Liam sounded strangled and he turned to look at Scott. “You mean you didn’t ask? You were just going to let him take your wolf and leave us all omegas?”

Scott deflated a little. “I just figured it would go to the next person in line in the pack. Maybe you. Maybe,” he frowned, “maybe Peter. I mean, he’s been an Alpha before. Not a good one, but still.”

Liam was livid. “You were just joking about him being crazy, Scott! Plus, you’re a fucking True Alpha! It isn’t like it’s got a line to revert to. Maybe it just disappears into the ether it came from, and then what would happen?”

The mage was slowly stepping away from the angry young wolf, trying not to draw attention to himself, but Peter’s Spark was having none of it.

“All politics aside, the thing I worry most about is what would happen to Scott’s soul if you ripped the True Alpha spark out of it. I mean, think about it Scotty. The only reason you’re an Alpha at all is because of your soul---it’s got to be tangled up tightly in there. If there is, what did you call it? Tearing? When you remove the wolf? What? Does it leave holes in his soul or something? Mess with his aura? Is that why he shouldn’t be around supernatural stuff afterwards, because something could get in through those holes?”

Kira took her cue like a professional, one dainty hand flying to her mouth as she gasped in fear for her beloved. “Oh my God, that can’t be, right? Nothing could get into his soul, could it?”

Hengstrom knew he was trapped. A room full of wolves would hear if he lied. “It’s… possible. But, in a world of magic anything is possible.”

Kira moved to stand in front of her husband. “I’d think you’d have led with that fact. As a matter of fact, the fact that you didn’t makes me wonder what else you don’t tell people about your precious rite.”

Mason gave a side-long look to the man. “Makes me wonder what he gets out of it.”

Peter allowed himself a smirk. Mason certainly had potential. He would have to spend a little more time with the boy. The True Alpha needed someone who could see through false altruism that didn’t have a history with him. It would be much easier to get him to listen, then.

A rumble from the back of the room drew his attention. Ah. Reinforcements.

Alan Deaton swept into the room with all the gravitas of an opening night diva, every eye upon him, and he glided to a stop beside his wide-eyed protégé.

“Remind me never to accept an invitation to a conclave I am unfamiliar with, Scott. It always seems to lead to trouble,” he said, dark eyes resting on the now surrounded mage.

Peter wondered if that meant that the druid had been lured away somehow, but that could be sussed out later. Right now, he wanted to know what the man intended to do with the interloper.

Deaton was a terrible emissary, but he wasn’t a bad magic user and when Peter saw his eyes widen and a rim of green flash in them, he couldn’t help but wish he, too, could see things with druid’s sight.

Whatever it was, it didn’t make the man happy.

“Scott?” The druid didn’t look away from Hengstrom. “Have you allowed your guest access to you or any others in the pack?”

Scott shook his head, a little sheepishly. “No. We were about to get to that. Lucky for me, Kira was here. She seemed to know right away that something was weird.” He hugged his wife tightly, and the little fox met Peter’s eyes and smiled. Leave it to her, indeed. It was a good reminder never to get on the woman’s bad side. He looked at Stiles and they shared an incredulous look that quickly devolved into twin smiles of satisfaction. Working together like this behind the scenes was often frustrating, but the connection it built between the two of them wasn’t something Peter was ever going to willingly give up.

“I believe Mage Hengstrom and I have some things to discuss. I’d appreciate it if a few of your pack members would escort him over to my offices. Then, I think you all could do with a quick check up. Just to make sure that there isn’t anything… missing.” His voice softened. “Or extra.”

A noisy exodus followed, leaving Stiles and Peter alone. Together. Again.

“She’s impressive,” Peter nodded his head in the direction of Kira’s disappearing back. “I don’t know what she sees in him.”

Stiles laughed then, only a little bitterly. “She sees what I once saw in him. A bottomless well of faith and singlemindedness that sometimes,” he sighed as he watched everyone leave, “sometimes feels like devotion. I hope she never loses it.”

Peter looked at the Spark and wished with all his heart that he could erase the heartache that Scott McCall’s fickleness had caused. Since he can’t, though, he will make do with replacing fake devotion with constancy, and human fickleness with a loyalty that the wolf-kings of old would bow down to.

“Since Alan has the mage under control, what do you say to a milkshake? My treat.”

Stiles smiled then, weak but sincere. “And curly fries?”

Peter wrapped his arm around the Spark and guided him towards the door. “Of course, sweetheart. What kind of man do you take me for?”

Stiles’s smile got a little more mischievous and Peter rolled his eyes. “Don’t answer that.”

The smile brightened even more. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Zombiewolf.”

And well, if the boy’s heart stuttered on the lie Peter wasn’t going to call him out for it.

***

Peter listened to the water falling in his shower and the one monopolizing it. Again.

“Three times, Peter!” Stiles was ranting. “I told him. I told him after the first time. I told him again after the second time, but this is three times.” The water stopped and the glass door opened with a tiny squeak. Peter imagined what Stiles looked like, skin red from the heat of the shower and his own frustration, and wished that just once the boy was flushed and rosy in his shower for a better reason than Scott fucking McCall’s incompetence.

Peter lounged on his bed, legs stretched out in front of him, ankles crossed, and waited with calculated patience. It didn’t take long.

Stiles stomped in wrapped in Peter’s robe, a wave of scented steam swirling around him and a prickle of agitated magic washed through the room causing the fine hair on Peter’s arms to stand. The Spark was actually angry this time.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Stiles stomped into Peter’s closet, opening and shutting drawers more violently than necessary, looking for something to wear. Peter didn’t mind. His wolf loved seeing the boy in his clothes, and if he’d bought a few things that ran a little smaller just for the Spark to “steal” well, his tailor didn’t need to know.

“Can’t do what anymore, dear heart,” he asked, aiming for calm. He watched the shadows move on the floor as the boy stripped just around the corner from him. It was a good thing the Spark couldn’t hear his heart. He’d probably run out of the apartment faster than he ran from the troll earlier.

Peter was always the scariest monster when it came down to it.

“I can’t keep trying to save his ass and having him ignore me. I can’t keep manipulating things from stage left hoping that it works out and that nobody fucking dies.” He stomped out of the closet, a pair of Peter’s jeans slung low on his hips and a V-neck that was a size too large falling off one shoulder. He tossed his towel at the hamper. He missed. Again. At least some things never changed.

“Mason almost died tonight, Peter,” Stiles flopped, all long legs and arms like a puppet with its strings cut, on the end of the bed. “If Liam hadn’t doubled back for him, he wouldn’t have had a chance. And it could have all been avoided if Scott had just listened to me.”

Peter rumbled sympathetically. Stiles needed comfort, not fuel for the Scott McCall Is A Terrible Friend fire.

The Spark sighed and dropped back onto the bed, exhaustion finally catching up with him. He’d gotten better in the years since Peter bit Scott. He was stronger. Had more stamina. Had magic to reinforce his bat when he swung it, and potions to help him heal faster when he didn’t manage to get through a fight unscathed… but he was still human, and he was tired.

“You did what you could, sweetheart,” Peter tried to console, but it was hard. He’d love to point out every flaw, every shortcoming, every insult and betrayal, but his boy was smart. He already knew all those things; pointing them out would just hurt. “It’s Scott. It isn’t like he’s finally going to learn a lesson from all of this. Deaton will support him no matter what, and until either he or Kira force him to change, he won’t.”

Stiles didn’t say anything for a long time. If his breathing hadn’t stayed the same Peter would have thought he’d fallen asleep.

“Scott won’t change, so it’s up to me.” The words were soft, but very final sounding.

“What’s up to you? Do you have a plan for forcing him to change?”

Short curls shook in a negative. “I can’t change him, but I can change me.”

Peter’s wolf growled in the back of his mind at the thought of Stiles changing. He was perfect. He shouldn’t have to change because his packmate—his so called Alpha—wasn’t worth his teeth.

“And how do you intend to change? More Spark studies?”

Stiles rolled onto his side and gave Peter an assessing look. “I got a call from a pack outside of Las Vegas last week.”

Peter stiffened and curled his fingers so that Stiles wouldn’t see his popped claws. NO. He couldn’t leave. Peter wouldn’t have it. He’d…

“Calm down, Zombiewolf,” Stiles said, sitting the rest of the way up and smirking a little. “It wasn’t like that. They aren’t looking for a new packmate, they just need a little help.”

Peter felt the panic drain away, and a new kind of caution take its place. Trust his boy to read him so well. He’d have to be more careful.

“What kind of help?”

“Seems they have themselves an aqrabuamelu.” Stiles watched him for recognition, and Peter couldn’t help feeling satisfaction when the Spark looked proud that he nodded.

“Scorpion man. Not native to the area… how’d it get to Nevada?”

Stiles shrugged carelessly, the V-neck hanging even lower to expose the shadow of a collarbone. If Peter didn’t know better, he’d think the Spark was teasing him. “What happens in Vegas rarely stays in Vegas, dude. I don’t know for sure, but I’d bet someone brought the fucker in for some sort of supernatural freak show and it got away from them.” He grinned, looking all of ten years old and full of mischief. “Like the alligators in the sewers where someone flushes an overgrown pet.”

Peter shook his head. The boy was a menace. “I’m assuming they don’t know how to handle the creature?”

“Got it in one. They’ve heard about our successes in driving off weird monsters and were wondering if we could help. I thought about telling Scott and seeing if he wanted to curry some favor with a relatively close pack, but…”

Peter watched and waited. Then he prompted. “But…?”

“But… I was thinking maybe I’d go out there and take care of it for them. Maybe negotiate a non-treaty kind of fee for assistance. Like a contract hit without the Mob, I mean, Pack involvement.”

It wasn’t a bad idea. As long as McCall didn’t get his knickers in a knot over Stiles killing things again. That problem didn’t seem to be that much of a factor in Stiles’s calculations, though.

“McCall won’t like it. He’s made it clear how he feels about this kind of extermination.” There was no judgment in his tone, but Peter couldn’t let him commit to something like this without being sure he knew what he was getting into.

“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem. Not after yesterday.” Stiles’s scent soured under the cucumber-citrus bodywash.

“Yesterday?”

The Spark flopped back onto the bed again, this time more hopeless than boneless. “Yeah. When I was trying to convince Scott about my plan for the trolls, he said it again.”

Fuck. That idiot.

“You know he doesn’t mean it.” Peter tried to soothe, but he was just a little too angry on Stiles’s behalf for it to be truly soothing.

“Oh, he meant it. And I know he meant it because of this.” A long arm shot up from the bed and the Spark shook the thin black leather band dangling from it. “I made it last new moon. A charm bracelet to beat all charm bracelets. Take that, Pandora!” There was an almost hysterical edge to his tone. “The emissary of the Parker pack taught me how to make it. She uses one to allow her to stand on equal footing with her wolves—she can scent them and listen to their hearts with it, even though she’s human.”

Peter couldn’t stop the rising of his eyebrows as he stared at the innocent looking thing. Stiles had been able to hear his heart. To read his scent. His brain spun in denial. For a month.

Stiles hadn’t said anything, though, so he would do the same. Maybe he could salvage things.

“So, you listened to his heart when the two of you were planning?” He tried to steer the conversation back onto slightly less terrifying ground.

“You mean when he told me, again, that I shouldn’t worry about planning because I wasn’t pack?” Pain was threaded through Stiles’s words, but under it there was a clear note of just being done with it all. “Yep. And Scott’s heart was clear as day---not a flutter to be heard. He truly believes I’m not pack, and if the Alpha says I’m not pack, then I’m not pack. That means, among other things, that that self-same Alpha can’t tell me what to do. As a best friend Scott could still do that, but he hasn’t been a friend, not to mention a best friend, in a long time I think.”

Peter didn’t argue. The brat had been many things over the past few years, but a good friend was rarely on that list, and even more rarely as far as it applied to Stiles.

“I don’t believe McCall will see it that way,” Peter poked at the argument gingerly, trying to see where Stiles was going with this. “Is that why you’re telling me? Do you want me to cover for you while you’re away?”

He couldn’t help feeling a little hurt by the idea that Stiles would be moving on without him, but he knows that getting out of Beacon Hills even for a little while would only do the boy good. As long as he intended to come back.

“No,” Stiles shook his head and levered himself up and off the bed, whiskey brown eyes fixed on his in the lamplight. “I want you to come with me. I mean… how often are you going to get a chance to face off with an aqrabuamelu? Plus, Vegas. Who wouldn’t want to go to Vegas?”

Peter’s wolf sneered. Who wouldn’t want to surround themselves with perfumed, alcohol soaked, despair ridden people in buildings full of too-bright lights, and bells and whistles shrieking twenty-four hours a day?

“Sounds like just what the doctor ordered.” He found himself saying, even knowing that the Spark would hear the lie. “When do we leave?”

Stiles grinned—a wide, true thing that made Peter’s chest tighten. “Well, first we need to swing by Home Depot. I need to buy a fuckton of diatomaceous earth.”

***

They stood in the Vegas packhouse, a wolf and a Spark, covered in diatomaceous earth and blood.

“I cannot thank you enough for everything you’ve done, Spark Stilinski,” the Alpha would have bowed if there had been an ounce less steel in her spine, Peter was sure. As it was, she dipped her head in thanks and held out a leather satchel full of goods. “I know you hadn’t expected to walk into a hostage situation, and because of that I’ve added a few,” she made a vague gesture to the bag, “items to our payment agreement. My niece’s life is priceless to me; I only hope that this is satisfactory recompense.”

Stiles took the bag and shrugged it over his shoulder. “You didn’t have to do that, Alpha Garcia, but your generosity is appreciated. I’m just glad that Peter and I were able to help.”

The Alpha looked at Peter and he forced himself to stillness. A Beta this far from his Alpha, without his Alpha’s approval… well let’s just say he didn’t want to get into the matter if he didn’t have to. I appeared that today was going to be a good day, though, as Alpha Garcia just nodded to him as well.

“The two of you fight well together,” she said, “I can see how it works.” She looked between the two guests, filthy and tired, and bowed deeply. “Your sister would be happy to see you so settled, Beta Hale. May your moons be ever bright.”

Peter felt his breath catch and chanced a glance at Stiles, but the Spark’s expression didn’t change except for a tiny arch of an eyebrow, almost challenging him to respond to the Alpha’s blessing. His wolf, though… his wolf wanted to howl and preen that the Alpha thought Stiles was his mate and would bless such a union so publicly. It made the blood in his veins rush and his heart pound, and then, then, Stiles smiled, soft and fond, and he knew the little monster had let the Alpha believe they were mates from the beginning. Had wanted her to see them that way. Had wanted all of them to see them that way.

Had wanted him that way.

Peter was many things, but a fool was not on the list. He gave Stiles one piercing look before turning back and bowing to the Alpha, grasping this last best chance at happiness with both his clawed hands. “May your days be ever joyful. My sister spoke highly of you and your pack. Your blessing means more than I can say. Thank you.”

He let the truth of his words ring clear and watched, fascinated, as Stiles’s skin pinked in pleasure. Oh, how he looked forward to exploring how far down that blush went.

“Yes, Alpha Garcia,” the Spark said, not meeting Peter’s gaze. “Thank you. But, if you don’t mind, my…” he stumbled over his words and the blush deepened when he accidentally made eye-contact, “Peter and I need to get all of this stuff off before it begins eating through our skin the way it did the aqrabuamelu’s. Spells can be made to be specific, but potions can’t really differentiate between types of skin.”

He sounded sheepish and young and it must have appealed to the Alpha’s protective instincts because she immediately acquiesced and sent them back to their hotel to rest and lick their wounds with a smile and an open invitation to visit whenever they were in the area. It was, in Peter’s not so humble estimation, the best possible outcome.

***

Stiles wandered out of the bathroom wrapped in an acre of terrycloth and a haze of Peter’s shower gel. Again. The boy had made a break for the bathroom claiming dibs on the first shower as soon as they’d arrived, and Peter had been impatiently waiting his turn alternately trying not to think too hard about the stuff on his skin or the naked young man in the shower. One was decidedly easier to ignore than the other.

While sitting there it occurred to him that Stiles taking over his shower and appropriating his bath products was becoming a habit he didn’t mind. As a matter of fact, he thought he could be happy smelling that particular combination of scents for the rest of his life. That was a thought for later, though. For now, he had another priority, and he pushed his way into the shower stall, determined to scrub himself raw if necessary, to get the noxious paste of blood and potion off his skin. Once he was behind the shower curtain, though, he was practically overwhelmed by Stiles’s scent. Clearly, he had been enjoying more than just getting clean, and it made Peter’s wolf whine with want. His mate was teasing him, but he’d get even soon.

It took longer than he wanted to get the hardened goo off, but he managed without causing too much secondary damage. Finally, he wrapped himself in one of the hotel robes and sauntered back into their room.

Stiles was stretched out on the bed he’d slept in the night before, eyes slitted, almost closed, and Peter could smell exhaustion on him. “Tired sweetheart?” he asked, and the boy made a grumble of acknowledgment.

“Killing giant scorpion monsters in the desert takes it out of you. Who knew?” Stiles yawned, jaw cracking. “The desert always does this to me, though. I remember being bedridden for two days after mom dragged me and dad to White Sands National Park. It made no sense—nothing but gypsum sand for miles. Not a milkshake or a curly fry in sight. I was miserable. At that point I was like, screw this dry heat/wet heat argument. How about a nice place where it never gets hot enough to melt your balls or cold enough to hurt your face? That sounds good to me.”

Peter perched on the edge of the bed and reached out to lightly touch Stiles’s knee. The skin was still slightly tacky with damp but soft under his fingers, and he didn’t think he imagined the delicate shudder than ran through the young man’s body. “I’m not particular,” he said. “I find that good company makes up for a multitude of environmental sins.”

Stiles looked at him, gaze steady. “So, you don’t have a dream destination? Chalet in the Alps? Cottage in the south of France?” He paused and licked his lips. “Red-tile roofed villa in Argentina?”

Peter stopped his exploration of Stiles’s skin. “Argentina? What ever made you think of Argentina?”

Stiles shifted, the robe slipping and baring yet more long leg. “Well, you said good company was important. I thought maybe that included, I don’t know… extended family?”

Peter’s heart stuttered at the thought. Derek and Cora. They’d been gone long enough that he’d begun to accept that he wouldn’t see them again. “I’ll admit, the idea of family has its pull, but family of choice, pack and mate, is more important.” He cupped the back of Stiles’s knee and squeezed. “I wouldn’t run off chasing rainbows when what I really want is already closer to home.”

Stiles rolled over on his side. “And what do you want, Peter?” The fact that he used Peter’s name instead of a silly nickname brought home how serious the Spark was feeling. “If you could have anything, what would you ask for?”

Peter stared down into amber eyes and gathered his courage in his claws again; facing Alpha Garcia was nothing compared to baring his soul to Stiles. “If I could have anything, I would have everything, sweetheart.” He shrugged a carefully careless shoulder, trying not to show just how vulnerable he felt. “I’d take you as my mate. I’d be an Alpha again. I’d bring Derek and Cora back and have them become pack again. We’d find our own territory—it wouldn’t have to be Beacon Hills; Hale territory stretched much farther afield than that. We’d rebuild the Hale Pack.” He dropped his gaze to his curled fingers. “Maybe adopt a couple of pups to raise. Sell our services to smaller packs to refill the coffers and regain the respect that the Hale name used to command.” He reached out and grabbed Stiles’s hand and brought it to his mouth, pressing a fang-laced kiss to the knuckles there, emotions riding him too hard for him to hide them anymore. “But if all I could have was you, forever? I’d be the happiest wolf in the world. Never doubt that.”

Stiles sat up and pulled Peter into a hug. “I’m glad you weren’t upset that I let Alpha Garcia think we were together. I thought… well, I won’t go into what I thought. I’m just glad I wasn’t wrong. I mean, I could have been. You haven’t even tried to kiss me.”

Peter rumbled deep in his chest, arms snaking around Stiles’s waist. “An oversight I intend to rectify immediately, if not sooner.” He dragged his cheek along the Spark’s neck, scenting him heavily before pressing their lips together, reveling in his boy’s trembling breath and grasping fingers. “Kiss you. Touch you. Cover every inch of your skin in my scent so that any were that comes in contact with you can smell that you’re mine.”

Stiles’s groaned and leaned into him. “Want that,” he pressed hot lips along the edge of Peter’s jaw, and they both shivered, “want that so much. Want everything with you.”

Peter grinned into his skin. “Everything, hmmm? I like the sound of that.”

Stiles made a noise of frustration. “Yes, everything, but it’s going to have to wait at least a little bit longer.”

Peter made a moue of distaste, dropping another kiss on Stiles parted lips. Stopping was the last thing he wanted, but he refused to rush his mate in this. “I do not like the sound of that. But you’re probably starving. You’ve only eaten four times today.” He pulled Stiles tightly against his side, letting his hands trail under the edge of his robe one last time to tide his wolf over. He wasn’t a saint, after all. “Let’s put our clothes on—dear God I can’t believe I’m saying that. You are a terrible influence on me.—and I’ll take you out to dinner and to see a show. It is Las Vegas, after all. It would be a shame to leave without seeing a tiger or Celine Dion or something. Something that isn’t likely to attack us, anyway.”

Stiles rubbed his face into Peter’s neck, mouthing gently along the skin and nipping at it for his teasing, but there was breathless laughter in his voice when he spoke. “Yes, being attacked by Celine Dion would be terrifying. Regardless,” he said, sitting up and moving so there was a little space between them. “We at least need to go to Caesar’s Palace.”

Peter laughed, heart lighter than it had been in years. Caesar’s Palace? Why not? “Is Caesar’s Palace on your bucket list, dear heart? Or is it just the pinnacle of tourist trap kitsch and you feel the need to commune with it somehow?”

Stiles shook his head and gave him a mischievous smile. “No. It’s just that Caesar’s is where Derek and Cora are going to be staying. They should be getting into town in about, oh,” he peeked around Peter’s shoulder and glanced at the bedside clock, “two hours. Just long enough for us to make out a little before we have to go meet them. Or get some dinner. Whichever you want.”

Peter was stunned. Derek and Cora were coming to Las Vegas? And Stiles had already arranged it? What else did his Spark have planned? He looked down at the force of nature in his arms and wondered, not for the first time, how he’d managed to find such a perfect mate. He forced his words through a dry mouth. “And what if I want everything, Stiles?”

Golden eyes glowed and the mischief faded into determination. “Then you’ll have everything, Peter. I knew when I made this move what I wanted; luckily, my wish list and yours are almost identical. I know that you were waiting until I was ready before you made any sort of move, but you were never going to believe that I was unless I did something drastic, so… I did something drastic. The Alpha’s blessing was an unexpected bonus. Derek and Cora were the easy part. They know you’re not perfect, and it’s going to take a lot of work to build your relationship back to anywhere near where it needs to be, but they’re willing to give it a chance if you are.”

“And the rest?” Peter asked, almost afraid of the answer. “There’s no pack without an Alpha, and I lost my red eyes a long time ago, sweetheart.”

Long fingers combed through the scruff of his beard. “About that,” Stiles tilted his head to one side and smiled. “I got a call from an Alpha in Saskatchewan. Seems they have a rogue Alpha running around biting people without asking first, and you know what they say.”

“No, sweetheart,” Peter said, closing the space between them, thoughts flashing through his mind and hope fluttering wildly in his chest. “What do they say?”

Stiles pressed even closer. “Well, it’s like it was the garage.” He held his wrist up and shook the little black bracelet that covered his pulse point just a breath away from Peter’s fangs. “Consent is sexy.”

Peter stared at the limb, longing to bury his teeth in the tendons, and thought, not for the first time, that this boy would either be the life or death of him.

***

“Canada?” Scott sounded confused. It was sad that Peter could identify the flavor of confusion. This one was Someone is offering me something that’s too good to be true, and I want to believe them, but the last time I did I ended up with no motorbike, a pocket full of magic beans, and sleeping on the couch.

There was a reason Kira was Peter’s favorite packmate. Or… soon to be ex-packmate if all went well.

“Yes, Canada, Scott. There’s a pack in Saskatchewan that Talia had a treaty with, and they’ve reached out and asked if I could come up and help them with a training program for some of their younger wolves. They don’t have much interaction with other packs because they’re so isolated, and their Left Hand is getting old enough that he isn’t able to keep up with the young ones’, ah, enthusiasm.”

Scott grinned. “You mean you’re volunteering to move to the Great White North and let a bunch of teenagers beat up on you?”

Peter sneered a little. “It isn’t like I don’t have experience with it.” He gave the teenagers that surrounded them a significant look. “And they don’t have anyone else to turn to. I didn’t think you’d mind if I took a little… time away. In the name of pack inter-relations.”

Scott waved a hand. “No. No, of course not. Take all the time you need.” He looked at Liam and grinned. “In Canada. I’ll let Deaton know that you’ll pass our good wishes on to the Alpha there. Hey, maybe we can even get some sort of treaty out of it.”

Peter simply stared. “Perfect. I’ll have their emissary contact Alan after I arrive. In the meantime, since I’m not going to be in residence, but since I intend to keep the property in my portfolio the pack should continue to use the loft as a base. I know it is hard on Kira to try to host everyone at your apartment.” He gave the kitsune a half-smile and she nodded back, grateful of his consideration. He almost felt guilty for all the listening devices he’d hidden around the loft over the past week.

Almost.

With Scott McCall and Alan Deaton in charge, it paid to keep a close eye on things.

“Alpha McKittrick is expecting me by the beginning of next week. Will that be a problem?”

McCall looked like Christmas, New Year’s and his birthday had all come at once. “Not at all. Not at all. Next week sounds great, doesn’t it, gang?”

The gaggle of teenagers made approving noises, even if Mason and Kira shared a look that held more understanding than Peter was comfortable with. It didn’t matter. As long as they kept their thoughts to themselves for a couple of weeks, everything should go as planned.

He’d braced himself for questions when he returned from Nevada, but no one had even missed him. He didn’t know whether it was better or worse that McCall hadn’t realized that Stiles had been gone as well, but he’d take the oversight it if it meant that his mate had less confrontation to deal with, even if it meant having to face the unpleasant fact that his former best friend had completely left him behind.

Peter couldn’t wait until the truth came out and McCall realized what he’d thrown away. He’d be a laughingstock amongst the packs, no matter what his pet druid told him, and he’d known men like this True Alpha before. Looking the fool was the one thing they couldn’t abide. It would eat him alive, and Peter looked forward to watching the feast.

He cast a look around and realized that the next time he saw these faces it would be with an Alpha Mate Spark and red eyes. As far as he was concerned, it couldn’t come fast enough.

***

Alpha power scoured through him, blasting away at his control and consciousness, and he howled in pain and confusion as his soul was re-written.

“Hell of a power-up, huh, Zombiewolf?” Stiles was there by him, hands warm against his wrists, magic washing over him like warm ocean waves, voice soothing and comforting the terrified animal in his mind, and Peter nodded to show he was there and aware even if speech was impossible around the mouthful of fangs he was sporting.

“You’ve got this,” his mate sounded so confident, so calm, “you’re stronger than you were last time. Better. You’re going to be an amazing Alpha. My Alpha, Peter. My mate. Just hang on a little longer for me, okay?”

Peter could feel Derek and Cora running over the snow-covered ground. They’d stayed out of the fight on his order; he wouldn’t have been able to focus if he’d been worried about their safety, too. Stiles had also stayed back, but his skills worked from a distance, and his added magic made the fight much less painful than it would have otherwise been.

He remembered what the Las Vegas Alpha had said, that they fought well together. It was true. They did everything well together. As Alpha mates they would be amazing together.

A rumble started low in his belly at the thought, hungry and wanting, and he breathed in Stiles’s scent—ozone and petrichor, the camphor of ancient forests, the sweet notes of apple and woodsmoke, and over it all Peter’s own god-damned shower gel—and he managed to put hid fangs away, his desire to keep his mate safe stronger than the wolf’s yearning to rip and tear and wallow in the meat of battle.

“You with me, Peter?” Long fingers stroked up his arms, and Peter nodded. Stiles let out a satisfied hum. “Told you. Told you you’d be perfect like this. Powerful. Beautiful. Perfect Alpha. Just perfect.”

And it felt perfect—like he always it imagined it would after he watched Talia become Alpha. Like it should have felt when he took the spark from Laura.—red tingeing the edges of golden pack bonds between him and Derek and Cora. He could sense their emotions now, their hunger for a strong pack, their hope that he’ll become the Alpha they need as well as the family they want. And Stiles? Even without the bond in place yet, his wolf knows his mate. He could pick that heartbeat out of a thousand. Could scent him from a mile away. Already his in so many ways.

“Think you can stand up now?” Stiles asks and Peter realizes they were still crouched in the snow where he’d fallen after killing the rogue, legs knocked out from under him by the strength of the Alpha spark.

“Yes, sweetheart,” he said, pushing to his feet and pulling the younger man up with him. “If I needed to, I think I could almost fly.”

Stiles snorted and gave his chest a thump. “Riding that high, are we?” Derek and Cora were standing just beyond arms reach sharing a smile and for once Peter didn’t feel like he was being laughed at. No. His pack was laughing with him, joyous in the moment, and he shook his head and let them laugh.

“It feels,” Peter tried to find the perfect words and couldn’t, but he needed to explain somehow. “Good. Right. Last time it didn’t feel like this, but now it’s like a shoe that was too tight finally stretched and now fits.”

Derek nodded. “That’s what happened when I was Alpha. It was like the Alpha power didn’t fit. I thought at the time it was just because I hadn’t been trained for it, but I think it’s more than that. I think the person has to fit the Alpha-power instead of the other way around. Whether that’s from birth or growth or whatever: you can’t fake it and have it work right. This,” he waved a hand at Peter and looked at Cora for confirmation. “This feels right.”

Cora leaned into her big brother and Peter could see relief in every line of her body, as if she’d finally been allowed to stand down from a perpetual state of alertness. “It does. It hasn’t felt like this in a long time. Not since…” her voice faded, and Derek hugged her hard. “Not since mom.”

Stiles had been silent during this exchange, allowing the remaining Hales their moment of healing, but he wasn’t one to be quiet for long. “Awesome. Glad to hear it. Couldn’t be happier about it, and am looking forward to talking about it more, but as the token human I need to say something.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “And what would that be, dear one? Have you some hidden wisdom concerning the nature of the Alpha spark?”

Stiles shook his head. “No, but I do have some wisdom concerning the care and keeping of pack humans. The instruction manual says that humans aren’t meant to be kept out in the snow this long, and that means that if you three wolfy space-heaters don’t get me inside soon, I’m going to be a Spark-cicle.”

Peter barked out a laugh and swung his mate-to-be up in a bridal carry, pulling him against his chest and letting him bury his face in the heat of his neck. “Well, there are too many things that I’d miss if they froze and fell off, so I suppose we should head back to the cars. I, at least,” he wrinkles his nose and then rubs it into Stiles’s hair, “need to change. I don’t think the hotel will let me in looking like a serial killer.”

Stiles smirked into his skin. “I’m sure hunting is a thing around here. You could always say that Bambi fought back---if your wolfy pride could stand it.”

His wolf chuffed at the insult. A deer got the better of an Alpha werewolf? Never. Peter sniffed dismissively. “I’d rather walk up to the reception desk naked.”

He didn’t tell the Spark that his murmured I wouldn’t mind wasn’t quiet enough to not be heard, but the peal of laughter from his niece and nephew made it clear. At least Stiles’s ears were warm after that.

***

Later that evening they lay together bundled up in blankets in front of an unlit fireplace. Stiles had lined every shelf in the cabin with battery powered candles and had brought out a pair of enchanted logs that he placed on the andirons. They radiated heat without flame, and Peter had to fight back tears in the face of his Spark’s sensitivity. Maybe it was the new Alpha power making him overly emotional. Maybe it was just Stiles.

It was probably just Stiles.

“Feeling okay, Z?” Stiles rolled in his arms and looked at him with concern. Apparently, he wasn’t as good at hiding his emotions as he thought. “Not having Alpha blowback or anything, are you?”

Peter tightened his hold and shook his head, trying to find his voice. “No. I was just thinking about how I never thought I’d get this.”

His boy nodded and settled back down. “You’d probably written the whole Alpha thing off. I’m glad it worked out, though. Thanks for going through with it. I know it’s hard.”

Peter shook his head again. “That’s not it. Honestly, the Alpha spark has been the easiest part of all of this. I’d always believed that I’d manage to get my Alphahood back someday. It’s…”

A cold nose pressed against the side of his neck and Peter could feel him nod more than see it. “Having Derek and Cora back. Family. Pack. I get it.”

That just made the wolf growl and grumble in the back of his mind, because clearly he didn’t get it. He didn’t get it at all. “No, Stiles, that isn’t what I meant either. Don’t you understand yet? All these other things?” He tried to calm his voice, but his wolf was riding him to make his mate understand. “The pack, my niece and nephew, the Alpha spark---all of these are wonderful, and I wouldn’t give them up for anything now that I have them, but they would never have happened without you. You are the everything. You are my everything. I never thought I would find a mate, find my soul’s match. Hell, for more than half my life I was convinced I didn’t have a soul, and then you came along. Brighter than any flame. Stronger than any force of Nature. You crashed into my life and nothing has been the same and I am so fucking grateful.”

He pulled Stiles up so he could look into the whiskey depths he dreamed of every night. “I wouldn’t be here without you.” Stiles opened his mouth to argue, because his boy always argued, and Peter shushed him. “No. I mean it. If I hadn’t scented you in the woods. Hadn’t had you so close to me in the garage. If you hadn’t killed me and then taken me back in when I was too stubborn to stay dead. If you hadn’t found something in me to value, something you could care about…” he pressed their foreheads together. “I wouldn’t be here.”

Peter resettled them, pressed his lips against Stiles’s temple, and listened to his heart race in his chest. “I am a selfish bastard. I’ve been called a narcissist more times than I can count and until the past few years I’d have agreed with that assessment and embraced it proudly. Now, though, I know it isn’t true because I know, just as surely as I know your scent and the sound of your heart, that there is no me without you.”

Stiles laid in his arms unnaturally still. “Oh.”

That one syllable conveyed a whole conversation full of self-doubt and fear and isolation and yearning, and Peter’s wolf finally settled when a sweet cherry-blossom note of hope threaded through the Spark’s scent. “You really mean it. It isn’t just that I’m useful.”

Peter frowned and a frustrated rumble rolled through him. “You’re everything. You could sit on the couch and read comic books and demand foot rubs and curly fries every day for the rest of my life and I would thank the Moon that I had you to love and cherish and care for. You’re my mate, Stiles.”

“I just thought that since you hadn’t…” Stiles’s voice faded into an insecure mumble and Peter recognized the damage he’d done by not explaining himself earlier.

“Sweetheart, if the only thing on the table had been our relationship, I would have asked you to mate me as soon as you were legal. First, though, there was the problem of McCall, because as much as I loathe the brat, he was important to you and I wasn’t going to ask you to choose between us. If I’m honest, I was afraid if I pushed, you’d choose him, and I wasn’t willing to give up the parts of you I had for a slim chance at more. After Las Vegas, everything was different. I knew you wanted me, and I wanted you more than anything—there were full moons I had to leave Beacon Hills so I wouldn’t find you and drag you off to my bedroom to mark you, to mate you, to make you mine in ways that no were could mistake. ��You had a plan, though, and if that worked out, we could have everything together, and I wanted to give you that, to give you everything. I couldn’t mate you before I fought the Alpha, though.” He squeezed tighter. “If… if it hadn’t worked… If I failed to defeat the rogue, you would have suffered terribly if you had a mate bond already in place. You’re not a wolf, but as a Spark, you’d have felt all of it—all my pain—and if I’d died? Well, let’s just say I wasn’t willing to run the risk of putting you through that.”

Stiles was shaking in his arms by that point, and Peter ran a comforting hand down his spine. “The worst didn’t happen, though, and now that the threat has passed, I want you in every way I can have you.” He grasped the boy’s chin in his hand and turned his face so he could see him in the flickering candlelight. His eyes were wide and wet, his lips pink and bitten, and Peter had never seen anything more beautiful. “Can I have you, sweetheart?” He was so close they were sharing breath. “Will you be my mate? Be my everything?”

He should have been expecting it, but the Spark still managed to catch him by surprise, lunging up and flipping them in their blankets until Peter’s back was against the couch and he had a lap of warm, clinging boy. He waited for the Alpha wolf to rebel, to push back and demand submission, but all it did was rumble pleasure at his strong mate.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Stiles dropped a kiss on Peter’s open lips, chaste and sweet, and then another, this one hot and hungry, while threading his fingers through the short hair at Peter’s nape. He tugged gently and the wolf tipped his head back so his mate could lick into his jugular notch. The Spark made a low satisfied noise before pulling away and smiling, trust and happiness glowing in his eyes and magic flaring and rippling around them.

Peter remembered something his Grandfather had told him, long ago under a forgotten full moon: “Faint heart never won fair maiden.” His life had proven that to be true. If he hadn’t finally bitten the bullet, finally put himself on the line, he’d have missed this. Missed everything.

He pulled Stiles back down into another kiss and then flipped them back over, pinning his boy under him. Stiles squawked in surprise and Peter grinned. His mate was going to hate finding out he was the fair maiden in their story, but Peter had definitely come out on top this time.

Maybe next time he’d let Stiles come out on top. He was flexible.

#teen wolf #steter #spark stiles #peter hale #stiles stilinski #developing relationship #bad alpha scott mccall #getting together #first time in this sandbox #canon I don't know her

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apocaelypse · 3 years ago

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@hellconsumed : scott mccall for allison argent .

❛❛ for a long time i wanted it too, maybe more than anyone. ❜❜

#* ❪ scott mccall ❫ ❛ scared people will do things that you wouldn’t believe .#* ❪ hellconsumed ❫ ❛ allison argent .#* ❪ verse ❫ ❛ teen wolf .

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chibsytelford · 4 years ago

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You Don’t Smoke

*** GIF CREDIT TO CREATOR ***

Requested by anon // Hi! Can you please write an Ez x Reader where she goes "I fucked up, Ez" and he is worried and is like, "what happened?". No cheating or anything please. Ty!

Requested by anon // Hiiiii, can I come in and send two requests pleaseeeee? Can you do one for Ez based off this interaction: - “You’re stressed”. “How can you tell?” You scoff. “You don’t smoke, -pet name-“ thx!

Authors Note - So I combined 2 requests together as I felt like they fit together perfectly. This is pretty short but I like it. I know I just uploaded a fic but I was on a roll so here is another one.

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You had never smoked a day in your life yet you found yourself sitting on your doorstep with a packet of cigarettes in your hand you had just bought a few minutes before. You heard that smoking helped calm nerves and right now you were insanely nervous. You did something stupid and you were a bit nervous and scared to tell EZ. You didn’t mean for it to happen it just did.

You lit the first cigarette and inhaled, spluttering a few seconds later. It tasted disgusting yet you took another drag anyway and another and another. You had finished the first cigarette and were just about to light another when you saw EZ walking towards you with a puzzled look in his face. You must have been so deep in your thoughts that you didn’t hear his bike pull up.

“You’re stressed” EZ commented sitting down beside you. You thought you had hidden the stress pretty well but apparently not.

“How can you tell?” you asked.

“Because I’ve just sat and watched you practically inhale a cigarette, and you don’t smoke querida” EZ smirked. He wouldn’t be smirking when you told him why you were stress smoking in the first pla

“You got me there babe” you huffed and leaned your head on his shoulder. “I fucked up EZ” You felt him tense under your head and you put one of your hands on his shoulder and squeezed it and you felt him relax slightly.

“What happened?” he questioned.

“I was doing some shopping when this man approached me. I was trying to reach something on the top shelf and he helped”. EZ again tensed up and you looked at him questioningly. You had a feeling he knew what you were about to say next but you continued anyway.

“He asked me if I was your girlfriend. He looked friendly enough and I assumed you knew him somehow, so I said yes. He then asked me if I knew about the club and what you get up to” EZ went to speak but you put your finger on his lip, shutting him up “I told him I knew some of what you did but that I didn’t expect you to tell me everything that went on inside the club. He then just gave this creepy smile and walked away” You could tell EZ was angry by the way his prominent veins popped out even more if that was possible.

“Fucking pendejo” EZ muttered under his breath but you heard him.

“You know who it was?” You know that you didn’t actually tell the man anything but EZ always warned you that a man might come and probe you for answers and that you shouldn’t talk to him. But you forgot until after he left. You just thought he was being friendly.

“Potter. There’s only one man I know with a creepy smile, it must be him, so you didn’t tell him anything?” EZ trusted you. You asked him to only tell you things about the club that would affect you or him and he always did.

“No, but I still fucked up talking to him. You have warned me plenty of times to watch out for anyone wanting information, and I nearly gave it to him on a plate” you were mad at yourself for letting your guard down so easily and trusting people you had never met before.

“It’s not your fault querida, it’s mine for putting you in a position to stay quiet. You should be able to talk about my job without worrying about getting me in trouble” EZ shook his head. You knew that he hated himself for practically telling you to never speak to anyone you didn’t know, but you were so in love with EZ that you would do anything he asked.

“I can’t believe you started smoking because you were scared to tell me something babe” he smirked at you, gently nudging your shoulder with his. “you can tell me anything mi amor, and I promise I will always listen to what you have to say”

“What are you gonna do about the man?” you already knew the answer but you thought you’d ask anyway.

“Don’t worry about that, me and big bro will take care of it” EZ shrugged as if it was nothing. You knew exactly what that meant but you didn’t care. As long as you had EZ you were perfectly happy.

#ez reyes x reader #ez reyes fanfic #mayans mc

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shawnssongs · 5 years ago

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𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 ⋄ 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

02. 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠

It’s the first day of senior year (also we’re just going to pretend they’re all seniors in high school, the pogues and the kooks, including Rafe at Kildaire County High)

series masterlist 01.

an: sorry this chapter is kind of boring! I promise there’ll be more action in the next one :)

warnings: typos, probably wc: 1.4k ish

thanks @jjmaybankx for the moodboard!

It was finally here. The first day of senior year. JJ never cared much about school since it had never been on his list of priorities, but he always loved the first day. He’d usually spend all summer working or hanging out with his friends, so being the social butterfly that he is, he loved catching up with everyone else that he really only saw at school. Plus, at this point, he needed to catch up with his own friends as well. He felt like he hadn’t seen John B, Kie, Pope, and Sarah in months, and other than a few “hey”s here and there, he truly hadn’t.

John B was the same way. Ever since finding out what happened to his father, he’d gotten back on track with his education. His grades improved junior year, especially with the help of Sarah Cameron. John B was ready to catch up with his friends, but he was really just waiting for JJ. His best friend had been MIA all summer.

“John B!” Kiara greeted with open arms when she noticed her best friend standing next to his beaten up Volkswagen.

John B accepted the hug gladly.

Sure, JJ had been absent, but John B had also admittedly been spending more time with Sarah than with the rest of the pogues.

“Where ya been?” He asked her with a smile.

“Around,” Kiara chided, “unlike you, lover boy.”

John B chuckled at Kie when he noticed Pope approaching. They all greeted each other, catching up a bit when Pope asked where Sarah was.

John B shrugged in response. “Met a new girl. She told me she was going to show her around.”

“Sarah loves strays,” Kiara acknowledged.

“There he is!” Pope cheered, gazing behind John B and Kiara at the missing member of their group.

“Man of the hour!”

“Where have you been?” John B asked when JJ was close enough, reaching his hand out for a quick hug.

Kiara prodded. “Yeah, what have you been doing all summer?”

JJ just smiled, playing it off. “I was hanging around at the beach.”

“So were we.” Pope added.

“Guess we didn’t cross paths.” JJ shrugged.

“Or you were too busy checking out tourons to talk to your friends.” Kiara crossed her arms across her chest accusatorily.

“Nah, I did meet this one cool chick though.”

John B noticed the little twinkle in his eyes. “You mean she put out?” He asked, earning a punch in the arm from Kiara and a glare from Pope.

“Is that all you ever think about?” Sarcasm dripped through JJ’s voice. Clearly, he was the one with that reputation, not John B.

The group continues to giggle like children and tease each other as they caught up outside Kildaire County High.

Meanwhile, Sarah Cameron had been incredibly helpful to you so far. You met her just a few days ago when you found out you’d be staying in the Outer Banks instead of moving back home. She agreed to meet you early and show you around the school a bit so you wouldn’t be too lost on your first day.

“Do I look okay, Sarah?” You ask her, noticing all the students walking around in cut off shorts and crop tops. You weren’t allowed to wear just anything like that back home at your private school, so you really weren’t prepared. In a pair of linen shorts and a button up tee, you felt a bit out of place.

“Sure!”

“I’m really nervous.”

“You look terrific,” she complimented.

“So this is Kildaire County High?” The school seemed surprisingly active. It was small, and rundown, unlike your school back home, and even though your old school was large and daunting, somehow you still felt more intimidated by Kildaire County. The uncertainty was causing your nerves to run rampant.

Sarah gripped your arm to calm you. “I know it’s not much, but you’ll love it. Come on,” she smiled, “I’ll help you find your first class.”

With Sarah’s help, you managed to make it through your first couple classes of the day until it was finally time for lunch. The cafeteria looked run down and dirty, but luckily Sarah pulled you outside to meet Kiara, who she’d described as her best friend.

“Y/n, this is Kiara. Kie, this is Y/n!” Sarah introduced giddily, excited to have another friend to do girly things with like shop and do each other’s hair and makeup. The boys would partake sometimes, but it wasn’t the same. Kiara was just as stunning as Sarah, the two of them contrasting in every way. Kiara’s skin and hair both darker than Sarah’s golden complexion, the straightened strands of Sarah’s light hair next to Kiara’s curls. As beautiful as they were, somehow you didn’t feel envious. You felt content. You felt sure that these two girls were people you wanted to keep around. Back home you never got that feeling. You were always comparing yourself to the other girls, trying to be like them or dress like them because that was what was most desired. Here, with Kie and Sarah, you knew they’d accept you for you, and you weren’t afraid to be yourself, because they clearly weren’t.

“Hey!” Kiara greets, breaking you from your thoughts.

“Hi! It’s nice to meet you!” You smile as she reached out for a hug.

The two girls caught up on each other’s summers a small bit of time since they’d spent most of it together. You gathered that Sarah is dating a cute surfer boy named John B, and Kiara has a thing for a studious kid named Pope. It wasn’t long before Sarah asked you how your summer in the Outer Banks had gone, and boy were you glad to tell.

“I met a boy at the beach.” You boasted, unable to hold back your smile.

The guys ate their lunch by the Volkswagen because Sarah apparently didn’t want them to scare away the new girl she’d befriended. He didn’t mind though. They had a lot of catching up to do.

“Okay, so what happened with that girl you met this summer? Stop playin’ around.” John B asked his friend sternly, not wanting anymore jokes.

“Nothing!” JJ lied, but he knew he couldn’t get away with it.

Pope rolled his eyes. “Sure, nothing.”

“Come on, you guys don’t want to hear all the horny details, right?”

The guys pestered him until he finally gave in.

“Alright! I’ll tell you.”

“Oh he was so romantic!” You gush. “And cute. Really cute.”

The girls ooh and aww as you continue your story.

“He ran by me, showing off, splashing around.”

“She swam by me and got a cramp. I saved her life, man.” JJ embellished. “She almost drowned.”

Pope and John B didn’t believe him, but they let him keep going. “Took her surfing, showed her the ropes.”

“We went strolling along the beach. We stayed out until ten o’clock.”

“We made out under the dock.”

“Then what?” Pope asked.

“We got friendly.” JJ quirked a brow, smirking at his curious friend. “Down in the sand, if you know what I mean.”

“He got friendly, and he held my hand,” you explain to the girls, recalling the memories. “He was sweet. He just turned 18.”

You pause, the girls watching you in anticipation. “It got colder. That’s where it ends. That’s when we made our true love vow.” You knew it’s sounded extreme, but you wouldn’t explain it any other way. You loved JJ Maybank, even if you only got to spend one summer with him, and losing your virginity to JJ was you vowing your love to him.

“Y’know, I told her we’d still be friends.” JJ shrugged. “I wonder what she’s doing now.” He truly did, more than the guys knew. Y/n was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and now she’s just gone, clear on the other side of the States.

“He sounds real nice.” Sarah smiled. She was a hopeless romantic, of course. She loved the story.

You agree. “He was a gentleman.”

“What was his name?” Kiara asked, sure she’d recognize any of the locals.

“JJ. JJ Maybank.”

Kiara noticed Sarah’s eyes widen and just before she was able to tell you, Kiara kicked her leg under the table.

“Maybe if you believe in miracles,” she started, “he’ll show up again, somewhere unexpected.”

“You really think so?”

“Of course!” Sarah chimed in, a bright smile adorning has face.

The six of them went back to class as the bell rung, all blissfully unaware of the events to come.

an: kinda hate this ngl... excited for the next chapter though :) thanks for reading, and please send feedback!

also, ty to now both @milaonthemoon and @storiesbymads for your spotify playlists that helped while I wrote and edited this :)

tags: add yourself! PLEASE PAY ATTENTION AND SPELL YOUR URL CORRECTLY (or comment if you just want to be tagged in the series) series @talksoprettyjjx @hazelgirl355 @ssjiara @socialwriter @milaonthemoon all fics @thatsme-johnbookerroutledge @harrysbbby @maybe-maybanks @maybankdreams @ilovejjmaybank @i-love-scott-mccall @sarahcxmeron @obx-direction-sos @mahleeyuh @jjmeybank @simonsblue @deviouscharitos all obx @thelocalpogue @maybankiara @ewgrossiknow @poguelifesurfshop @stargazingstarkey @pogxe @t8-er-tot @amanecer-cora @rudths @x-lulu @pixelated-pogues @apoguecalledjj @hiddleless @sungieeeeeee @letsgotothehop @tcmhollnd @jjs--whore @jjswhore @miawantsapuppy @talksoprettyjjx @dani-c2 @hemmoemotional @kennedywxlsh @drew-starkey @beth-winchester21 jj @teamnick @everyonesababe @infinitydols @ritasunflwr @jjaybank @theloveofpeterparker strikethrough means it wouldn’t let me tag you, and PLEASE let me know if there are any mistakes. also sorry this looks so weird..

#jj maybank #outer banks #obx #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x y/n #jj maybank x you #jj fanfic #jj fanfiction #jj imagine #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank fanfiction #jj maybank fanfic #jj x reader #jj x you #jj x y/n #outer banks fanfiction #outer banks imagine

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goddesswritings · 4 years ago

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home with you - Stiles Stilinski | tell me it’s a nightmare

Title: home with you: Pt. 2 – tell me it’s a nightmare

Pairing: Stiles x Reader

Summary: Y/n is shattered, the ghost riders took the man she loved, and she wasn’t sure if she would ever see him again. No one remembers him and when she talks about him, they look at her like she lost her mind. She feels like she is at a dead end with this thing, but she doesn’t want to stop looking for him.

Word Count: 5.1k

Notes: Please know I don’t hate Malia at all. I love her, but I sort of made her the cold callus one in this fic. But she will make up for it later.

Masterlist

*********

<< PART ONE

Your emotions were a wreck as you pulled up to Scott’s house. It was nearly 4am but you needed to see him and make sure he remembered Stiles. Maybe the two of you could work quickly to get Stiles back.

Mrs. McCall’s car wasn’t in the driveway, so she must be working a late shift at the hospital. Not that she minded you coming here. She loved you to death and loved that Scott had a friend like you.

On the drive there, the tears had started to fall again, so you wiped them away before you exited the jeep. You stopped at the front door and fished for the extra key that Mrs. McCall hid in case Scott ever got locked out. Finding the key, you unlocked the door and let yourself into the house.

It was dark, but it didn’t bother you. You crept up the stairs to Scott’s room. The door was open, and you could see Scott spread out in bed. Beside him you saw Malia. It didn’t surprise you.

Clicking on his light, you wandered over to the bed. “Scott, please wake up.”

Scott grumbled and buried his head into his pillow. Malia groaned and sat up. “What are you doing here at 4am, Y/n?” Malia asked as Scott sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“This is important. Stiles is gone. He was taken by the ghost riders.” You rushed out.

The two teens looked at you like you had two heads. Your heart dropped into your stomach.

“Stiles? Who the heck is Stiles?” Scott asked, looking as confused as he could.

“Please tell me you’re joking! He’s your best friend, the guy you have known since elementary school. He’s also Malia’s ex and he and I just got together.” You said hoping the two of them were just joking.

Scott got out of bed. “Y/n, have you been drinking or something? You seem off.”

“No, I haven’t. Please tell me you remember Stiles? You have to remember Stiles!” Panic had filled you.

Malia took you and sat you on the bed. “Y/n, sweetie, take a deep breath. Please tell us where you’ve been. Did someone give you drugs?”

“No, not at all. You don’t remember Stiles?” You looked to her with hope in your eyes.

“I haven’t had a boyfriend, Y/n. Not yet.” She looked to Scott when she said this.

Scott bent down in front of you. “Who is Stiles? I have never met a Stiles.” His words confirmed the worst for you. Everyone else had forgotten about Stiles. Everyone but you.

“He is your best friend Scott. You do everything together. He’s my boyfriend.” Your voice grew soft.

Scott looked over to Malia in concern. They honestly thought you had lost your mind. They silently communicated.

“Y/n, you don’t have a boyfriend.” Scott said softly. “What’s really going on here?”

The tears had returned with a vengeance. “You don’t believe me at all. Please, Stiles needs our help.” You begged, trying to get something to click in his mind.

“There is no Stiles, Y/n.” Malia stood up and walked across the room.

“There is. Sheriff Stilinski is his father.”

Once again they exchanged looks. “Sheriff Stilinski doesn’t have any kids. What has gotten into you? Your heart is beating out of your chest.” Scott tried to be soft, but it was all too much.

You stood up. “I have to go.” Heading for the door, Scott stopped you.

“You can’t leave like that. You’re obviously going through something and we want to help you.”

Shrugging him off, you shook your head. “You can’t help me. I have to go.” Before they could do anything else, you rushed out of his house, jumping back into the jeep and driving away from there. Without knowing where you were going, you ended up in the spot where Stiles had confessed his feelings for you. Once again you broke down.

Everything had you feeling very helpless. You needed to help Stiles, but you didn’t know how. No one was going to believe you. They all would just think you were losing your mind, which you definitely felt like you were. It felt like you were failing him, and you hated it.

You sat in the jeep, staring out into the woods, willing for an answer to come to you. The forest was beginning to lighten in front of you, as the sun started to rise. You were just lost in your thoughts. Hoping that Stiles was safe wherever those things took him.

A light knock on the window, knocked you from your thoughts. You looked to see Sheriff Stilinski looking at you with concern. You rolled down the window.

“Y/n, are you okay? I got a call from Scott that you were acting off.” He asked as he studied you.

“Sheriff, do you know who Stiles is?” You asked, hoping maybe he remembered.

“I do.” Hope floated in you. “That was the nickname my father used to use.” The hope sank.

“Oh.” You frowned. “This is Stiles’ jeep though. Do you remember that?”

“Y/n, this jeep was Claudia’s. She showed it to you and gave it to you when you moved to town. Do you remember that?” He sounded genuinely concerned.

“No, I don’t.”

“Did you hit your head, Y/n?” He asked frankly.

“What? No, I didn’t. Why would you say that?”

“Your behavior is similar to someone with a head injury. What have you been doing? Natalie said you haven’t been home all night and she’s worried about you.”

“I was out with my boyfriend.” You mumbled, ringing your hands together.

“Well I suggest you head home and talk to your aunt.”

“Okay. Thank you, Sheriff.” He nodded and walked back to his car. You started the jeep and backed up, before heading towards the Martin’s home.

Sheriff Stilinski must have called your Aunt because she was waiting on the front porch for you. You exited the jeep and trudged up the walk towards her.

“Where have you been, Y/n? This is so not like you.” She stated crossing her arms.

“Looking for someone.” You muttered.

“All night long?” She found it unbelievable that you would do that.

“Yes.”

“Tell me the truth, did you go to a party?” She asked.

“No, I don’t party. You know this.”

“Yes but I don’t know what is going on with you right now? We are all worried about you.”

“I’m sorry, Aunt Natalie. It was important.”

She sighed and ushered you into the house. You excused yourself and went up the stairs. Lydia was in her room getting ready for school.

“There you are! Where have you been?” She asked, putting her brush down.

“I was looking for someone.” You said the same thing.

“Huh? What, who were you looking for?” Her concern grew.

“Stiles.”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Stiles, what the hell is a Stiles.”

No one at all remembered Stiles and it was hard to face. How could you save him if no one else believed you?

“He was one of our best friends and my boyfriend.” Even though you hadn’t been official yet.

“You don’t have a boyfriend.”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying.” You mumbled before shuffling off to your room. Surely they wouldn’t care if you skipped today. They all thought you were losing your mind.

You changed into pj’s and shut the curtains before jumping into bed and tuning out the world. For the next few hours, you just simply didn’t want to exist. It reminded you of when you lost your parents.

****

Ever since Y/n burst into his room this morning, Scott hasn’t felt right. Her behavior scared him, reminding him of when they met. He wasn’t sure what triggered it, but he knew he needed to help her.

“Scott, did you hear me?” Malia asked him as they walked the halls.

“I’m sorry, I zoned out.” He said looking at her. “What did you say?”

“I asked what you thought was wrong with Y/n? Her behavior this morning was unsettling, and I’m worried for her.” She said, sounding just as concerned as he felt.

“I don’t know, but she was seriously shaken up. I only ever saw her like that when she found out what happened to her parents.”

“Damn. Do you think she saw something that set her off?”

“She might have.” Scott spotted Lydia entering the school and he is rushed over to her. “Lydia, did Y/n come home?”

Lydia looked up at him. “She did but she was very shaken up. She asked me about a Stiles.”

“She asked us about him too. We don’t know anyone named Stiles. Where do you think she heard the name?”

“I’m not sure, maybe she met someone or something. She claimed he was her boyfriend, but she’s never had a boyfriend since she’s lived here.” Lydia explained.

“She said that to us too. She even said he was my ex.” Malia added.

“I’m worried about her.” Lydia said.

“Us too.” Scott announced. “Is she coming today?”

“I doubt it. She locked herself in her room. My mom couldn’t get her to come out, so she is calling her out for the day.” The situation was serious if she locked herself in her room. They all knew this.

“Is she hanging around other people?” Scott asked Lydia.

“No, she’s doing the same thing she always does except for last night.”

“Are we sure we don’t know anyone named Stiles? Because she was pretty adamant we did.” Scott was thinking back to the way she acted this morning. She was on edge, but she fully believed what she was saying. Y/n wasn’t the type to make up things. The glaring fact was that she was extremely unsettled, like she’d witnessed something happen to this Stiles guy.

“We’re sure.” Malia said while rolling her eyes. “I think she was just having a moment. Maybe she dreamt up this Stiles guy and it felt so real, that she couldn’t tell it was a dream.” Anything was better than just assuming their friend had lost it.

“That’s possible. I know my dreams have been very very real feeling since the whole Chimera thing with Theo.” Deep inside, Scott knew there was much more to it than some real feeling dream. A part of him believed what she had said, but he kept it to himself.

Lydia shrugged. “I’m not sure. But my mom said if she keeps it up, she’s going to make an appointment with a therapist. I’m thinking maybe she relapsed because the anniversary of her parents death is coming up.”

Something about what Lydia was saying didn’t fit what Scott was feeling. Especially in the way she was acting. It had nothing to do with her parents. This was all about this Stiles guy. Scott knew he would have to talk to Sheriff Stilinski and see if he knew anything that could help them figure out what was up with Y/n.

Throughout the day, a sick feeling followed Scott. Every where he walked, he felt like there was something or someone missing. Of course Y/n was missing for the day, but there was someone else. Maybe he was just hoping that was the case. Because he didn’t want to face the fact that Y/n might just be reverting to the person she was when she first moved to Beacon Hills.

Malia was watching Scott closely as he was stuck deep in his thoughts. She too was worried, but because she hadn’t really known Y/n when it all happened the first time. So she was terrified to witness it.

Lydia had also been in her head all day. Aiden was trying to gain her attention throughout the day, but she couldn’t help but slip into her thoughts shortly after. Her cousin meant the world to her and she wanted her to be okay. Right now, it felt like something awful might happen. Maybe it was the Banshee in her, or maybe it was because she had fought so hard the first time that Y/n had slipped into her depression.

****

You had slept most of the day away, unaware that your friends were worrying about you. When you had woken from the long nap, your head was a little clearer than it had been that morning. Of course it still felt like you were living a nightmare, but you still remembered Stiles, and this was your chance to save him from whatever he was trapped in.

He was still alive, you knew that. Of course you didn’t know how you knew, but you did. That helped to give you some small amount of hope, that you would be able to find him and bring him home. But the first thing you needed to do, was figure out what was bringing the ghost riders here.

You jumped out of bed and took a shower, refreshing yourself and washing away all the anger and sadness you had felt when Stiles was taken from you. You needed to be brave and find him.

Once you were ready and looking better, you texted Scott and asked if you could meet up with the pack. You had some important things to bring up with them and you just hoped they wouldn’t look at you like you were crazy. Scott was surprised you texted him and agreed you all could meet up at his house at 5.

Finally, you managed to get some food into your system. While you were eating. Lydia rushed in, she had looked worried until she saw you seated at the counter, eating food and looking generally better than this morning.

“Y/n, you look better!” She rushed over and pulled you into a tight hug. “I was so worried for you after this morning. How are you feeling?” She took a seat beside you.

“I’m okay. I’m sorry for worrying you. A lot of things happened yesterday, and I still don’t know how to process it, but I think I will be okay.” You had to be okay if you wanted to help save the boy you loved.

“What happened? I know you keep mentioning this Stiles, but we don’t know a Stiles.”

Lydia was watching Y/n closely. “I’m going to explain at the pack meeting. Something is happening in Beacon Hills and it’s not good at all.”

She just chuckled. “It’s been quiet since the Chimera and beast. I think we are finally in the clear.”

“No, we aren’t. Just wait to hear what I need to say.” She nodded and agreed to wait and listen to me.

The whole pack was at Scott’s. Well everyone except Stiles. It was hard not to have him here, but you would get him back. Even if it was the last thing you did, Stiles was going to come back to Beacon Hills.

You sat on the couch with the pack watching you in complete silence as you explained what had happened in the last week. You talked about Alex and Alex’s missing parents. Then you talked about Stiles and what happened when he disappeared. Most of the pack looked at you like you’d lost your mind. Scott was silent but seemed accepting with what you had to say.

“So the town is being invaded by ghost riders? How come we don’t see them?” Liam asked with a perplexed look on his face.

“The only people who can see them are the ones they have come to take. But somehow I was able to hear them. I even found this when Scott, Stiles, and I searched Alex’s house.” You held up the handkerchief for the group to see.

Lydia was staring at it. “You said you had a vision when you found that?” She asked.

“I did. I also had another one when I found Stiles’ jacket in the back of his jeep. I saw him being thrown into a train station full of people.”

They nodded, but you could tell most of them didn’t believe you. Malia had completely tuned you out, not thinking for one second, that you, a person who’d never been born or bitten into the supernatural world, could see visions.

“Well I don’t know how you could have visions?” Lydia said.

“It has to do with Stiles. The visions all happen when it’s something that involves him. Maybe it’s because I’m connected to him in some sort of way?” You suggested.

Scott was still quiet. “You know, she has a point. All day today, I have felt like something was missing. Maybe it is someone who is missing. But I have felt off. Maybe Y/n has a point.”

“She doesn’t, Scott. Please this is ridiculous. We need to focus on Senior year instead of some made up supernatural theory from someone we know who hasn’t always been so sound of mind.” Malia’s words sliced through you like a knife. The group turned to look at the werecoyote.

You sighed because you should have known this wouldn’t work. Especially because you were the only one who remembered him, and everyone thought you were losing your mind.

“Malia don’t be like that. We agreed to hear her out.” Scott said to her.

“I’m sorry, but we have bigger things than to worry about this made up guy. I didn’t want to say it, but I think she’s lost her mind again. Lydia, I think you should do something about it.”

The more she spoke, the worse you felt. One of your best friends was really saying this to you and it made you feel terribly upset.

You stood up while they argued. “Hey, I’m going to go. Just forget I said anything.” You didn’t bother to look at them as you left the house. You jumped into the jeep and debated on where to go. No one wanted to believe you but perhaps you could talk to Sheriff Stilinski. You drove away, feeling hopeless once again. But you needed to not get back into that mindset.

Your phone buzzed beside you. You looked to see that Scott was calling but you just put the phone down again. For now you decided to head home. You didn’t want to worry your Aunt Natalie or Lydia and you needed to figure out a plan.

As you walked into the house, you found your aunt.

“Y/n. You look better. Are you okay?” She questioned as she put her book down.

“Oh yeah, I’m okay.” You sent her a smile that was fake as hell but hoped she couldn’t read through it.

“What happened last night? You know we’re very worried about you. I was so thankful to receive a call from the Sheriff when he found you. I couldn’t bear to lose you after what happened.”

You looked up at your aunt. She sounded genuinely concerned for you and you hated that you worried her. “I’m sorry, Aunt Nat. I didn’t mean to worry you like that. That wasn’t my intention.”

“Well if there is a boy involved, I don’t think it was wise of him to keep you out all night long. Did you two drink or something?” She was in counselor mode now.

“No, there wasn’t any drinking.” You stopped and debated what to say next. “We just lost track of time I guess. It won’t happen again.”

She sighed. “Y/n, you’re almost 18, I trust you to make the right decisions. I just need to know you’re okay. Your dad would be mad if he knew I had lost track of you like that.”

“I really am sorry. I really never meant to stay out that late.”

“I talked to Sheriff Stilinski and he said he found you alone. What happened to the boy.”

Memory of the night before bubbled to the surface. “Oh, he had to go home. I stopped at the preserve to watch the sunrise.”

You could tell she didn’t 100% believe you. “Okay. Well you need to be careful. Especially after everything that has happened in this town.”

“Of course, Aunt Nat. I will. Thank you for being here for me.”

“Anytime, sweetie. You can always talk to me.”

Nodding, you excused yourself to your room. You wanted to figure out how what was happening. The first thing you needed to do was find the pattern that was bringing the ghost riders to Beacon Hills. There was always a pattern and trigger to these supernatural beings. Then you needed to figure out where they were keeping Stiles.

For the rest of the night, you left your phone off as you researched what you knew and what you needed to find out. Pretty quickly you noticed that whenever someone went missing, there were spontaneous thunderstorms that would pop up. That had to be the thing that was bringing the ghost riders. Especially since these storms were so out of season right now.

You’d retrieved an empty notebook from your desk, and you started writing down all the things you noticed and all the things you had found so far. Including everything you remembered Stiles telling you before he was taken, as well as what happened the night he was taken.

By the time you recalled everything you could, you had nearly eight pages of notes. Talking about the different disappearances you’d witnessed and what happened after they were taken. Your biggest question was why you remembered them when everyone else would forget.

A light knock sounded on your door. You told them to come in.

Lydia walked into your room. “Are you okay? No one has been able to get ahold of you.” She took a seat on your bed and looked at the notebook you were writing in.

“Yes, I’m okay. I’m just doing research.” You said as you studied what you’d just written.

She watched you as you flipped through the pages. “Research to find Stiles?”

“Yep. No one might believe me, but I know what I witnessed. I love that boy and I’m not going to let him fade away from existence. Not when I remember him.”

“I believe you.” Lydia said making you look up at her.

“You do?”

“Yes, and so does Scott. He and I talked about it and we agree that there is something up. We both feel that there is someone missing.” She sighed. “I’m sure that Malia does too, but she’s stubborn and we all know that. I’m sorry for what she said.”

You shrugged. “It’s fine. I mean I know how crazy I look and sound. Honestly, I’m half expecting your mom to send me to Eichen House.”

“She won’t do that.”

“Lyd’s, you didn’t see the way she looked at me when I came home this morning.”

A silence filled the air as Lydia thought over your words.

“So, tell me what you know.” She broke the silence.

You looked up and studied her. “Do you really want to hear what I have to say?”

“Of course I do. Y/n, I love you to death. You’re practically my sister and the only other time I have seen you that distraught, was when you lost your parents. At first I thought you were acting out because of the anniversary of their death, but you aren’t. This is different. I can’t explain it.”

Truthfully, you’d been so caught up in all this stuff with Stiles, that you hadn’t thought about your parents death anniversary. Remembering it, was like a huge stab to the heart. You dropped your pen as the emotions swelled up inside of you.

The tears spilled over. “Oh my god, Lydia. I’m the worst daughter ever. I forgot about the anniversary.” Your voice waivered as the tears clouded your vision.

Lydia leapt up and pulled you into her arms. “No, Shhhh. You’re not the worst daughter. Your parents don’t want you to remember the worst thing. They would much rather you focus on your life than dwell on what happened with them.” She rubbed soothing circles on your back.

“This is why I have to get Stiles back. I can’t lose anyone else in my life. It was hard enough to lose my parents. I will not lose the man I am in love with.”

Lydia pulled away and watched you. “You love him?” She asked.

“I do. Lydia, this guy was in love with you for years. I never thought I had a chance with him. But somehow I did. Somehow he liked me just as much as I liked him. We only just admitted our feelings to each other the night before he was taken.” The tears were still streaming down your face.

“Wow, Y/n. I had no idea. That’s intense.” Lydia was hugging you once again. “We’re going to find him. We have too. Now please, tell me what you know right now.”

The two of you separated and you wiped the moisture from your face. “Okay, so I noticed a pattern each time these ghost riders came to Beacon Hills. Strange out of the blue thunderstorms would appear. I think the storm is what is bringing them here.”

You gave her the notes you’d written out and she spent a few minutes browsing through them. “Wow, you put a lot of detail in this. Scott needs to see this.” She said in awe of the dedication that was put into them.

“I wanted to make sure I wrote down every little detail. That’s seems to be the only way we will figure this all out. This is unlike anything we’ve had to deal with before.”

“You can say that again. Trying to save someone you don’t remember is hard. From what I can tell, these things aren’t going to go away unless we do something to stop them.”

“That’s my thoughts exactly. We also need to found out where they are taking people.” You said while closing the notebook and putting it on your nightstand.

“We will, but right now, you need some sleep. You’ve been stressing a lot lately and a good night of sleep will do you some good.” Lydia hugged you once more before leaving you to get some sleep.

Once you had prepared for bed and laid down, your mind was on Stiles. That’s where it stayed until you drifted off to sleep.

The last thing you remembered was going to bed and now you were on the platform of an old train station. It was dark and there was no one else around. Looking around, you could not really pinpoint where this train station was or what you were doing here. The place was a little old and clearly hadn’t been used for an awfully long time.

You wandered around the platform for clues as to where exactly you had landed. Nothing stood out. You walked to the platform edge when suddenly the ghost riders appeared through a portal. It startled you to have them come out of nowhere. Hiding yourself behind column, you watched them rush in. They disappeared through a tunnel. Once they were gone, you looked down the tunnel to see lights. It was only a couple minutes later when the ghost riders came rushing out again.

They disappeared back into the portal, leaving the place vacant. You figured that you should investigate the lights at the end of the tunnel, maybe it would tell you where the ghost riders would go. Jumping down from the platform, you looked towards the portal to make sure they weren’t coming again. Once you were sure they weren’t, you made your way down the tunnel, towards the lights.

This led you to a waiting area for the train station. In there were people, all sitting on the benches, staring catatonically ahead. It was creepy to see people like this. You took in more of the station and noted the departures board. At the top was Beacon Hills but listed under it was a slew of other towns.

Shaking your head, you turned to see if you could get someone to notice you. You walked up to an older woman and waved your hand in front of her face. She didn’t even flinch.

“Hello?” You asked, waving your hand in more peoples faces. No one could see you.

As you wandered the benches, you spotted him. Stiles. He was sitting there looking like the rest of the people here. But he was unharmed thankfully.

You rushed over to him. “Stiles! Oh my god!” He didn’t respond to you at all. So you reached forward to touch him, but your hand went right through him. Of course it did, this is just a dream. None of this is real.

Crying out in frustration, you fell to your knees. It didn’t make sense that you were experiencing this dream. But it also wasn’t fair that you couldn’t even interact with Stiles while in it.

“Y/n.” He mumbled softly.

This made you snap your head up to him. “Stiles, can you hear me?” You stood up and watched him.

“Y/n.” He said again but never stopped staring at the nothingness in front of him.

“Please Stiles, listen to me. I’m looking for you and I will find you. I can feel it. I’m going to find you.”

Nothing. He didn’t speak again. He was back to the catatonic state everyone in this station seemed to be in. For the next few minutes, you watched and waited to see if he would say anything else, but he didn’t. So you decided to take notice of the train station, walking around and making sure to memorize every part of the place.

The minute you woke up the next morning, you wrote down every detail of the dream. Every town name that was listed on the departures board and every other detail that you thought could help you figure out where Stiles was. You had no doubt in your mind that you were going to find him.

PART THREE >>

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fandomrewrites · 4 years ago

Text

Season 3a; Episode 9: The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Hello all! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist and please answer my pinned post! I want as much opinions as possible from you guys. And if you have any questions about the pinned post or this story feel free to ask! As always constructive criticism is appreciated! Also as you can see Isaac is no longer in the pairings, if you read the last chapter you’ll know why.

Season 3a; Episode 9: The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Pairings: Scott McCall x Twin Sister, Lydia Martin x Best Friend

Warnings: Mentions of death

Word Count: 2,495

Season 3a masterlist

I was sitting on my bed working on some homework when my phone rang startling me. Quickly picking it up, I checked the caller ID seeing Lydia's name flash across the screen. "Hey Lyds."

"Can you come to the school? Like right now?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" I ask, eyebrows knitting together in concern. I stand up and pull on my black vans as I wait for her to answer.

"There's a dead body. I went out but without realizing where I was going I ended up at the school."

"Okay, just stay there. I'll bring Scott. We'll be there soon."

"Thanks, I'll let Allison and Stiles know too." She hung up the phone before I got the chance to say anything.

Walking through the bathroom, I pushed Scott's door open. "We need to meet Lydia at the school. She said there's a dead body."

Scott's eyes widened in surprise. "Okay, let me tell Stiles-"

"Lydia said that she would. She's going to tell Allison too. Let's go."

*_*_*_*_*_*

Arriving at the school, Stiles' jeep pulls up beside Scott and I. As soon as he's out of the car he asks, "Where is she?"

"Over here!" Allison calls. We all turn our heads to see Allison and Lydia coming around the corner.

"What happened?" Scott questions.

"I don't know. I just got here."

We all turn to Lydia to wait for her to answer. "It's the same thing- same as the pool. I got into my car, heading somewhere totally different, then ended up here. And you told me to call when there's a dead body."

Stiles interrupts, "You found a dead body?"

"Not yet."

"What do you mean not yet? You're supposed to call after you find the dead body. After."

"Oh, no. I'm not doing that again. You find the dead body from now on."

"How are we supposed to find the dead body?"

"Don't yell at her!" I wrap a protective arm around Lydia as I scold Stiles. "She's still new to this, hell we all are still pretty new to this supernatural thing. And you can't blame her for not wanting to be the first person to find the dead body! Especially by herself."

Stiles opens his mouth to retort but Scott speaks first, "Guys... I found the dead body."

We all follow his gaze to the Beacon Hills High School sign. On top of it lays the dead body of a deputy, blood streaming down the sign like something you would see in a slasher film.

*_*_*_*_*_*

"Idioms, analogies, metaphors and similes. All tools for the writer to tell their story." Ms. Blake says as she walks between mine and Lydia's desk. She pauses as she looks down at Lydia, who is drawing rather than taking notes. "Lydia, I wasn't aware you had so many hidden talents."

"You and every guy I've ever dated." Lydia replies.

I immediately bring my hand up to my mouth and bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. "And that was an idiom by the way." Ms. Blake answers.

Lydia looks back down to continue drawing as Ms. Blake continues, "Idioms are something of a secret to the people who know the language or culture. They're phrases that only make sense if you know key words. Saying jump the gun is meaningful only if you know about the starting gun in a race. Or a phrase like seeing the whole board."

"In chess." Stiles speaks up, my head turning to look at him.

"That's right, Stiles. Do you play?"

"My father does."

"Now when does an idiom become a cliche?" Some hands go up to answer Ms. Blake's question but my eyes stay locked on Stiles. Scott leans over to say something to him but before I can listen in I notice Lydia looking at me from the corner of my eye.

I break my gaze to return her eye contact, "What?" I whisper.

All she does is cock an eyebrow. "What?" I ask once more.

"Nothing." She hums, turning her attention back to her drawing. I sneak one last glance at Stiles then turn to focus on Ms. Blake once more.

*_*_*_*_*_*

"I can't believe you two! Having Lydia distract Aiden. If she gets hurt I swear to God I will skin both of you!" I yell at Scott and Stiles.

They both look at me with their mouths hanging open. Stiles opens and closes his mouth a few times, unable to form words. Scott finally speaks up, "I get why you're mad but we need to talk with Ethan and Aiden has been by his side nonstop."

"Fine, then let's go talk to Ethan."

A few moments later Ethan, Scott, Stiles and I stand in a stairwell. "You want to know about Emissaries?" Ethan asks.

"We want to know about your Emissaries." Scott corrects.

"Why are you even talking to me? I helped kill your friend. How do you know I'm not going to kill another one?"

My eyes flash white and a low growl sounds from my throat as Ethan looks at Stiles. Scott wraps a hand around my wrist when Stiles starts speaking, "Is he looking at me? You threatening me? You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to break off an extra large branch of mountain ash, wrap it in wolfsbane, roll it in mistletoe and shove it right up your freaking-"

"Stiles. We get it." Scott cuts him off. He then turns back to Ethan, "We're talking to you because I know you didn't want to kill Boyd. And I think if something like that happened now, you wouldn't do it again."

"You don't know what we owe them. Especially Deucalion." Ethan replies.

"What do you mean?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"We weren't like Kali and Ennis when we met him. We weren't Alphas."

"What were you?" Scott questions.

"Omegas. In actual wolf packs the Omega's the scapegoat, the last to eat, the one who has to take the abuse from the rest of the pack. That was us."

"So, you and your brother were the bitches of the pack." Stiles says.

"Something like that."

"If this is your idea of a sob story and you think we're going to feel sorry for you, you're mistaken." I snap.

Ethan clenches his jaw but continues his story, "Our pack- they were killers. People talk about us as monsters. They're the ones who gave us the reputation. And our Alpha was the worst of them."

"Why didn't you just fight back? Form Voltron wolf and kick all their asses?" Stiles asks.

"We couldn't. We didn't know how to control it back then."

"Deucalion taught you." Scott states.

Ethan nods, "And then we fought. We took on the whole pack, one-by-one. By the time we got to our Alpha, he was begging for his life. We tore him apart. Literally."

"Well, that was heartwarming." Stiles says sarcastically.

"Truly. A beautiful story." I roll my eyes.

"What about your Emissary?" Scott asks, ignoring Stiles and I.

Ethan shakes his head with regret. "Then they're all dead? Kali’s and Ennis’s too?" Scott asks once more.

"All except for Deucalion's." Ethan answers. He then flinches as if someone attacked him.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Scott asks the Alpha.

"Not me. My brother."

*_*_*_*_*_*

Quickly making it to Lydia and Aiden, Ethan and Scott rush over, stopping Aiden from attacking Cora. "Aiden, you can't do this!"

"She came at me." Aiden tries to defend.

I rush to Cora's side as Ethan continues to talk with his twin. They both leave the room as I help Cora off the floor. "I'm fine." Cora says, trying to push me away.

"You're bleeding, let me help."

"It will heal."

"Yeah well, it's not healed right now so let me help." I say again. I bring her to a bench so she can sit down, "Stiles can you get me a wet paper towel?" He nods and moves to the sink.

"I can do this myself." Cora tries to push me away once more.

"Cora, I know you can. But it will make me feel better if I can help." She looks at me carefully then nods, allowing me to clean the blood off her face.

"Are you okay?" Scott asks from behind me.

"She doesn't look okay." Lydia replies, seeing how Cora flinches when I reach up to clean the wound.

"I'll heal."

As Stiles watches us he decides to ask Cora what she was doing. "You know how suicidally crazy that was? What do you think you're doing going after them?"

"I did it for Boyd. None of you were doing anything." Cora answers.

"We're trying." Scott says.

"You're failing. All of you. You're a bunch of stupid teenagers running around thinking you can stop people from getting killed. But all you do is show up late. All you really do is find the bodies." She then abruptly stands up pushing me away and walking out of the room.

"She's definitely a Hale." Stiles says, "I'll make sure she gets home."

"I'll come with you." I say, feeling concerned for the girl.

*_*_*_*_*_*

I have Allison on speaker while Stiles drives and Cora sits in the back of the jeep. "Philosophers?" Stiles asks.

"And Guardians. Which after last night has to mean something like Law Enforcement, right?"

"When I think of Guardians I think of parents. You know, like get a parent or guardian signature?" I pipe up. I then turned to Stiles, "Was Tara a mom?"

Stiles shakes his head, "No, she wasn't."

"Stiles, you have to tell your dad. Tell him whatever you need to, but get him to believe." Allison says.

Stiles looks scared, I reach over to grab his hand and provide some form of comfort. "What about Scott?" He asks.

"He's not answering. I'll keep trying. But Stiles, tell him. Tell your dad. Warn him."

"Okay. Okay- I know."

Allison hangs up, "I'll be there for you the whole time Stiles." I say, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Are you going to do it?" Cora asks.

Stiles reluctantly nods, "And I'm going to need your help. Both of you."

*_*_*_*_*_*

Cora and I sit on Stiles bed as his dad and him sit in front of a chess board. Stiles is using the chess pieces to try and explain the supernatural. We all awkwardly sit in silence, "Stiles," Mr. Stilinski starts.

"I'm just trying to figure out how to start." Stiles interrupts his dad.

"I don't have time for this." Mr. Stilinski begins.

Sighing, Stiles begins to explain, "For the last year you've had cases you couldn't figure out, right? The murders involving Kate Argent. Matt killing the guys who drowned him. And the murders now. It's like you've been playing a losing game."

"Stiles, the last thing I need now is a job performance review from my own son."

I grimace at the Sheriff's words, but Stiles continues. "That's just it. The reason you're losing the game is because you've never been able to see the whole board. I need to show you the whole board."

After about 15 minutes the chess pieces are labeled and Mr. Stilinski looks very confused. "Scott, (Y/N), and Derek are werewolves?"

I nod as Stiles answers, "Yes."

"Kate Argent was a werewolf-"

"Hunter. A werewolf hunter." Stiles corrects.

"Along with Allison and her father." Cora adds.

"Deaton, the veterinarian, is a Kanima?" Sheriff asks.

"No. He's a Druid. We think."

"Think of him like a Celtic witch." I try to explain.

"Who was the Kanima?" Sheriff asks.

"Jackson." Stiles answers.

"I thought Jackson was a werewolf."

"He is now. He was the Kanima first and had to die to become a werewolf." I reply.

"Who's the Darach?"

"We don't know yet." Cora says.

"But the Darach was killed by werewolves." Sheriff says, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Slashed up and left for dead." Stiles states.

"We think." Cora adds.

"Why was Jackson a Kanima?" Sheriff asks, still confused about the Kanima.

"Because sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are." Stiles answers, looking back at me.

"It's why I'm not a normal werewolf, but a Zeta werewolf instead." I say.

"What kind of shape does an incredibly confused, getting angrier by the minute father take?" Sheriff asks.

"That would be more of an expression. Like the one you're currently wearing." Stiles says.

I quickly stand up to stop any argument that may occur, "We can prove it, Mr. Stilinski." I look to Cora.

She nods and stands up, "Watch this." Stiles says. Before I can shift Cora tips over. I reach out my arms, catching her before she can hit the floor.

"Cora!" I exclaim, searching for her pulse.

"Call and ambulance!" Sheriff Stilinski yells at Stiles, also making his way over to the unconscious teenager.

*_*_*_*_*_*

In the car on the way to the school I start to feel an ache in my chest. It's the same ache I get when someone in the pack is in danger. I know that Derek is alright because he was at the hospital with Cora. And I know that Stiles is fine because he's driving.

"Can you go any faster?" I ask, pulling out my phone.

"Why what's wrong?" Stiles looks at me, concerned.

"Danger sense." I simply state, pulling my phone up to my ear.

"Oh thank God." I say when Scott answers. "Are you alright? Stiles and I are almost there."

"I'm fine, what's wrong?" Scott replies.

"Danger sense. Who else in the pack is with you? Who can you see?"

"Ethan, Aiden."

I interrupt, "I don't care about them. Who in our pack can you see?"

"Uh." Scott's eyes search the room, "Allison and Isaac."

"Where's Lydia?"

"She- I don't know. She was just here."

"We're here. Meet us by the main doors." I hang up and call Lydia, not getting an answer.

"Lydia isn't answering."

Stiles shakes his head, "She's not answering me either."

I move forward, my body telling me to go towards Ms. Blakes classroom. We make it to the classroom to see Lydia tied to a chair and Sheriff Stilinski aiming his gun at Ms. Blake.

We try to move in but she flicks her hand, sending a desk to block the door. "God, I really wish I had more strength as a werewolf." I grunt out as Stiles and I push against the door.

After a few moments of us pushing against the door, the desk moves away and we stumble through. We look around the room, I rush to Lydia to untie her from the chair as Scott shakily stands up.

He's bloody from his fight against Ms. Blake. Stiles finally chokes out, "Dad?" When he can't see his father anywhere in the small classroom.

~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @crazy-fan-101 @rogershoe @judayyyw

#teen wolf imagine #teen wolf rewrite #teen wolf #series rewrite #sister mccall imagine #lydia martin imagine

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imagineseclipse · 5 years ago

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Theo Raeken x Reader-You saved me.

You stood tall next to Lydia Martin in the empty McCall house. The whole pack stood in silence, everyone was afraid of opening their mouths to speak; everyone was afraid in general.

The hunters that Gerard and Munroe had recruited would do anything for your blood, for all of your blood. Even if the tiniest drop of McCall pack blood was spilt there would be celebrations. Anyone who was associated with you and your friends were in grave danger.

You had tried so hard to protect Beacon Hills, never did you think that you’d be protecting yourselves against them. In their eyes you were the enemies.

Theo Raeken’s eyes wandered around the room, he stood awkwardly alone in the corner- keeping his distance. He knew that he didn’t fit in just yet, he’d only just returned and he figured that it would take time for him to regain your trust.

As Scott opened his mouth to make an announcement Theo’s eyes landed on you, his breath was drawn in as his pupils ran over your facial features. You were different.

When Theo returned from hell he made a vow to himself that he would steer clear of you and Stiles as you were the ones who figured out his devious plans in the beginning. He knew that you would give him problems.

However to his surprise you were the only one who wasn’t treating him like an outsider, you stepped forwards for him.

“We can’t just let him loose into Beacon Hills”Scott shook his head as you all surrounded Theo who was covered in dust and rubble.

“Well I’m not babysitting him”Malia scoffed, a small growl leaving her lips.

“Count me out”Liam muttered.

“You were the one who brought him back”you exclaimed, rolling your eyes.

“I thought he could help catch one of the ghost riders, and he remembers Stiles”Liam offered as he stood next to Hayden.

You blinked absentmindedly a couple of times before turning to Lydia.

“I’m sorry after what happened I don’t think I should be anywhere near him”Lydia briefly glanced at Theo.

“I’ll do it”you stated.

“What?!”Theo and Scott both chirped up in unison, everyone’s eyes now staring into your soul. Malia suddenly burst out laughing and you rolled your eyes, glaring at her from across the tunnel.

“Oh you’re not kidding”she coughed awkwardly.

“Y/n are you sure about this I mea-

“Guys seriously I’ll do it, I have nothing else to do he’s my responsibility now”you decided, nodding towards your friends letting them know that you weren’t going to change your mind.

Scott let out a sigh before turning to you again, knowing that you were stubborn so you wouldn’t back down.

“If he tries anything-

-he is still here you know”Theo interrupted.

“No one cares”Malia snapped, turning on her heel disappearing alongside Lydia.

“Just don’t let him out of your sight, one funny move and he’s going back down there”Scott warned before sending you a silent nod, placing a set of keys in the palm of your hand.

You understood clearly, nodding in response as you watched Liam and Scott walk away after one last warning glare in Theo’s direction.

“What are we gonna do with you?”you sighed out, pivoting to face a very confused Theo who stood in handcuffs, chains hanging from his arms heavily.

You rolled your eyes slightly, disapproving of the chains. Theo stayed silent, his mouth slightly hanging open at your appearance, things had certainly changed since he’d been cast down to hell.

“First of all let’s get rid of these”you muttered, taking a step towards the boy who stood stunned. He flinched back quickly, moving out of your reach as you lifted your arm, the keys jingling on your fingers.

“What are you doing?”Theo asked quietly, his eyebrows raising.

“Well you can’t stay like this forever, it’s gonna be a killer on the wrists eventually-unless you want to stay like that I mean that’s not a problem”you folded your arms, waiting expectantly-you really weren’t a fan of the underground tunnels.

“Aren’t you worried I’m gonna hurt you, aren’t you scared of me?”he finally breathed out.

“Do you want to hurt me? Do you want me to be scared of you?”you replied quickly, holding the keys tighter.

“N-No I don’t want to hurt you, no to both questions”Theo’s whole aura had changed since he’d returned, something down there had taught him a well needed lesson, however there was a small part of you that felt bad for sending him to hell in the first place.

“Then we have no problem, it’s okay”you sent him a small smile before freeing him from the handcuffs, letting the chains drop to the floor in front of you.

Standing still next to Lydia you could feel a pair of eyes trained on you, a blush unintentionally crept up on your cheeks realising which direction the stare was coming from.

Never for one second did you think that you were going to be fighting on the same side as Theo Raeken, the thought of not fighting against him comforted you a little bit and you didn’t know why.

You finally mustered up the courage to flick your attention over to Theo who stood leaning against the wall in the corner casually. His eyes lingering over you as they lifted to meet yours. His skin started to tingle and the feeling of awkwardness he was feeling before began to fade away.

Your lips twitched up into a smile, and your hand involuntarily lifted, waving him over so that he wasn’t standing alone in the corner. Theo’s eyes widened, hesitating before pushing himself off the wall. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he slowly made his way over to your side.

“You’re gonna want to hear what Scott’s saying right? I mean you are technically part of the pack now”you whispered. Raeken’s stomach filled with butterflies as you accepted him fully, giving him all he ever wanted, a pack. Somewhere he belonged.

“I don’t think you should have brought me here y/n”Theo hummed as he trailed behind you slightly. Looking up at the daunting Beacon Hills High School sign.

“Why do you think that?”you pouted as you turned your head to keep an eye on the chimera who was looking paler by the second.

“People here hate me, and so they should after what I did”Theo shook his head as he stopped walking completely.

You paused aswell, taking a step towards him.

“Okay first of all stop feeling sorry for yourself, secondly so what it’s high school everyone hates everyone”you shrugged, watching Theo narrow his eyes at you.

“Look, yeah you have done some really shitty things, but I mean who doesn’t mess up, and people sometimes do bad things for good reasons I don’t know what the case is with you because I’m not in your brain- but what I do know is that you have the potential to be amazing you just have to want it for yourself. After what happened you still deserve an education, you deserve to live a happy life and show people that you aren’t the bad guy everyone makes you out to be”you were waving yours arms around frantically, letting the words tumble from your lips.

Theo’s lips pressed together, blinking a couple of times trying to register and digest everything you had just said to him. You believed in him, when no one else did.

“Why are you being so nice to me y/n? Why did you step forwards to watch over me after everything I did, after what I did to you”Theo protested.

“Because I know what it’s like to be the bad guy in someone’s eyes Theo, believe it or not I was there the night Donovan died, it wasn’t just Stiles I was there too but you didn’t know because Stiles was onto you and he knew you’d tell Scott- but Scott found out about what we did anyway and I just know what it’s like to be seen as the bad guy”you finally admitted, Theo listening to every word of your confession.

“I didn’t know-

“I know you didn’t, it’s okay I don’t know about your situation either but we’re going to be late we can save the stories for later”you informed him, glancing down at your watch.

“Later?”Theo questioned, jogging to match your steps as you drew closer to the school.

“You, me and a big stack of English literature textbooks, oh and maybe some fries I’m starving”you groaned.

“Y/n it’s halfway through the year, they won’t let me graduate”Theo exclaimed.

“They will let you graduate, I’ll make sure they do, with my help you’re gonna be top of the class”you grinned, holding the door open so that Theo could walk in front of you.

“You really think I can do it?”

“Oh c’mon if you can come up with a master plan to take down a pack full of supernatural creatures and a true alpha I’m pretty sure you can answer a few algebra questions”you snorted, leading Theo towards the library.

Scott’s announcement became muffled as you and Theo stood alongside eachother, the warmth from your bodies engulfing you in a small bubble, you could feel your shoulders brushing against eachother. You smiled up at him once more, making sure that he was okay.

The brown haired chimera opened his mouth to say something then abruptly shut it again, his eyes narrowing, training on your neck. His head fell at an angle as he noticed a bright red dot dancing over your skin.

Your eyebrows furrowed together as you tried to read his facial expressions.

“Theo what’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”you breathed out, whispering over to him.

The laser beam flashed across your skin once more and Theo’s eyes widened with panic after realising what it was.

“Everyone get down!”Theo yelled, startling the whole pack, you felt a strong pair of arms wrap around your body immediately as you heard the window glass shatter, a bullet flew past you but never touched your skin as Theo Raeken gripped onto you, using his own body to shield yours, the two of you were now on the ground.

Scott had already gotten Lydia and the others out but it was too dangerous for you and Theo to escape, instead he’d hidden you both well behind the island in the middle of Scott’s kitchen. That’s where you both intended to stay until the hunters outside stopped shooting.

Theo could feel your body shaking in his arms, his jacket wrapped over your body as the two of you sat huddled together in the ruined kitchen where you were once stood as a pack.

After the bullets died down Theo cautiously lifted his jacket from around you, brushing the hair out of your face. The cold air from the shattered glass window hit you instantly.

“Are you hurt?”you felt his warm hands settle on your chin lifting your face so that he could assess any wounds.

“N-no I’m okay, are you hurt?”you asked quickly, not hesitating for a second.

“I’m fine, I’m okay”Theo nodded, letting you know that he was unharmed.

Silence fell over the two of you, Theo’s arms remaining tight around you.

“Y-you just saved my life, that bullet could have killed me but you saved me”you glanced up at Theo, not realising how close the two of you had become.

“I’m just returning the favour”he mumbled out, your body lifted from against his, turning so that you could ask him what he meant but you were interrupted.

“Y/n, Theo?!”Lydia called out in a state of worry.

“Lydia?”you jumped up, holding onto Theo’s hand so that he had support getting up from the floor.

“I’m so glad that you’re okay”Lydia wrapped her arms around you, squeezing the air out of your lungs.

“It was Gerard and Munroe, they sent them over here luckily no one got hurt and that’s thanks to you Theo, you saved all of us especially y/n, I’m grateful”Scott nodded over to Theo, a genuine smile spread across his face.

“What do we do now?”Lydia questioned Scott.

“Nowhere is safe for us right now, we’re going over to use Derek’s loft it’s secure enough, the others are on their way there now we should probably head over there”Scott informed before leaving with Lydia.

You and Theo stood in silence once again, brushing the shards of glass off your clothes.

“Did you really mean what you said before about me saving you?”you quickly breathed out, choosing a slightly risky time to talk about something so important.

“Of course I did, over these past couple of months you have made me feel so normal and wanted even after I did bad things you were the only one who forgave me-you saved me y/n you gave me my life back and you made it a hundred times better at the same time I don’t think you understand”Theo took a daring step towards you.

“I love you”you finally blurted out after replaying his words.

“Theo, I love you”you repeated, shutting your eyes briefly after confessing something that had been on your mind for a long time.

“And I love you”you heard his voice ring out and your eyes flickered open just in time as he closed the gap in between you both, one of his hands finding your waist and the other settling on your back steadying you as he kissed you for the first time. His lips met yours and you felt your stomach explode with butterflies.

A/N:There was so much more to this story but I decided to end it there idk I might carry it on who knows🤷🏽‍♀️❤️

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