Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You’re in pain,” Scott said confused as the black lines twisted across the back of his hand.

Stiles brushed him off, turning slightly to finish buttoning up his black long-sleeved shirt, obscuring the scars and bruises that came from running with a wolf pack.

He pulled a grey-stripped zip-up hoodie on and then a heavier black wool coat. Three layers between him and whatever the hell would try and eat them next. It gave little comfort, but it was what it was. He had bigger things to worry about then his wardrobe.

“How much does it hurt?” Scott insisted, stepping forward. Stiles didn’t worry too much though, he’d been out maneuvering Scott their entire lives and stepping around him now with a shrug and muttered ‘I’m fine,’ was as easy as breathing.

What annoyed him was Scott let him get away with it. Every. Single. Time.

‘Best friend. Brother,’ he scoffed internally, fighting to keep his face impassive when all he wanted to do was sneer. Some brother. Stiles had been suffering for weeks with nightmares, screaming himself awake was becoming common place. Ah hell, the nightmares were becoming common place.

The pain, the desperation, the fear, and the ever present, gnawing hunger that made him ravenous, yet nothing he ate, nothing he drank, filled the hole…he was starting to think he was going crazy.

‘We are.’

His left eye twitched. That was another thing that had changed. His internal monologue felt…wrong. Disjointed and deeper, raspier, than he was used to.

‘Stiles, Stiles, Stiles,’ it mocked him, tsking. Stiles felt the desire to shake his head and clenched his hands behind his back to stop the movement.

‘I’m not going away, Stiles.’

‘Why not?’ he finally asked as he wrenched open the door to the jeep and pulled himself into the driver’s seat.

‘Because I’m you and you’re me. We are one, Stiles,’ the voice said breathlessly.

‘You’re not me,’ he argued. He threw an arm over the back of the passenger’s seat and turned to look behind him as he backed up. Running Scott over with the jeep wouldn’t kill the wolf and, while he sometimes fantasized about it during Scott’s more self-involved moments, he didn’t want to hurt his baby, so he refrained.

He had actually run over Derek’s foot once, when he was being especially annoying, but the guy deserved it. They were better now, but still, it was the principle of the matter.

‘I am, Stiles,” the voice insisted, adding a bit of force to the tone. ‘I am what you were meant to be, what you would have been, had your mother not died when she did.’

Stiles slammed on his breaks, the jeep screeching as it dropped from fourth to park without warning.

“What. The. Fuck?” he growled, staring into the rearview mirror.

Orange eyes stared back; they were the type of orange that was more dark, flickering ember then Halloween pumpkin. The bruised looking circles under his eyes and pallid skin should have scared him, had he not seen them more and more in the mirror since he’d turned seventeen.

‘It’ll get worse,’ the voice whisper-hissed. ‘Until you come of age and then you’re mine.’

“No. What? No.”

‘Yes, Stiles.’

“Explain. Now,” he snarled, watching as those glowing eyes flashed and his lip curled up the way Malia’s did when she was trying to do long division.

‘Nogitsune,’ it breathed. ‘A dark fox. A chaos fox.’

“Explain using actual verbs, asshole,” he snarked, fighting back the panic at the term. He’d read about kitsunes – foxes with souls, and their dark counterparts, nogitsunes – those that went against Inari and therefore lost their ability to reincarnate.

‘A nogitsune is born from the primordial chaos of the universe. I chose your mother as my yōshi engumi. My adopted heir, when she moved here. Like you, she was a born Spark, but her powers were limited. The destruction of the nemeton and the Hales left her weak. She was unable to fully access my abilities and they drove her mad.’

Stiles took a shaky breath, his eyes wide as saucers as he stared into the mirror. “It was you…”

‘No. Well, yes. Think of me as the last straw that tipped her over the edge, but I was not the one to cut the tree or burn the Hales, so lay the blame where it should rightfully be, little kitsunebi.’

“What?”

‘Think, you know what it means.’

Stiles was going to say he damn well did not speak Japanese, hell, he barely spoke Polish and his mother had spoken that more than English most of the time, but…

Foxfire.

The word just came to him. Not in his voice or the other voice, but as a separate innate understanding.

“What does that mean?” he breathed out, panic licking up his spine. “What does any of this mean?!”

‘It means it is starting. A kitsune is a born fox. They have human bodies and come into their powers over hundreds of years, but every nogitsune was originally created from the first fires of the world. There are a finite number of us, only a handful, and we can neither be born nor die. Instead, we select an heir to pass our magic and memories on to. The transformation takes place when the heir comes of age and can take months.’

“Why do I feel like a big old BUT is coming?” Stiles groused, slumping down into the seat. He was still sitting on the edge of the road, and should probably change that soon or Scott would track him down. Unless Allison called of course. Then he wouldn’t hear from him for hours, if not days.

‘He doesn’t deserve you,’ the nogitsune said petulantly.

“Not going there, dude,” Stiles quipped back. “Also, what do I call you, this seems weird.”

‘Kūsho.’

Stiles tilted his head to the side, a smirk flitting on the edge of his lips. “Vacuum? Weakness?”

‘Void, little Spark,’ it snarled back testily. Stiles could practically feel his hackles rising. He snickered, pissing people off was a special skill he’d mastered by the age of five, Void had nothing on him for creating chaos in the world.

He knew his giggle held the edge of hysteria, but he managed to suppress it. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, explain to me what being your heir means and can I opt out or anything? I’d prefer to stay human if possible.”

‘Unfortunately, you never were.’

“Wait, what?” Stiles asked, alarmed as he sat up sharply.

‘You are a Spark. Your mother was a Spark, just like hers was and so on.’

“But Deaton said every human had a spark, that it wasn’t a big deal.”

Void snorted. ‘Do you think every human could create that mountain ash line? That every human could hold two-hundred pounds of werewolf up for two hours without drowning? No, the Spark that is in you, is like the potential for a wolf to be created from a bite. It is a core of magic. The difference is that if Derek bit you, you’d be an Alpha without ever collecting two hundred dollars or passing Go.’

Stiles paled. “So, what? I’m either an Alpha or a Chaos Kitsune?”

‘Or you go mad like your mother and die,’ Void said bluntly.

“What the hell?!”

‘Look, I chose your mother and she didn’t make it. Part of that was the imbalance in the nemeton, part her inability to ally herself with the Hales, and part, her own weakness, the only one of those issues you have, is the nemeton, and we can fix that, so there’s nothing holding you back.’

“What does Derek have to do with anything?” Stiles asked, switching the jeep into first gear. If the Hales were involved, he needed to talk to Derek.

‘Kitsune are loners by nature. At the most, they will stay within small family groups, but that’s all. Nogitsune are different. Chaos can be the general crazy of an ADHD multi-tasking teenager without his Adderall or it can be a bloody death and destruction killing spree. Having a Pack around that we are bonded to minimizes the mass murder charges. A Pack, especially a small, well-known Pack like the Hales, will always call some form of chaos to you, so the desire to make something happen, as it were, will be minimized to a normal human-level.’

“Bonded to how? Like the betas? I can honestly tell you I will not be able to submit to Derek with a straight face. I question the guy constantly and he needs serious anger management help with the throwing into walls part of our relationship.”

Now it was Void’s turn to smirk and somehow, Stiles felt it, the smug bastard.

‘It is right for the Alpha’s Mate to question poor leadership. It is their duty to protect the Pack, especially the youngest, from any abuse or shortcomings of their Alpha, but it is also their duty to support the Alpha, to assist with explaining when things go wrong or feelings are hurt. Your entire Pack, baring Peter, but including Derek, are young. They need to be trained to fight, but they also need to be taught how to be a part of a Pack. Derek has forgotten this aspect. He saw a good Alpha, but he was never told why his mother did what she did. He was never prepared to follow in her footsteps.’

Void sighed. ‘I am glad Peter did not bite you, but he was correct, you would have made an excellent wolf.’ The smug tone was back when he explained, ‘but you’d never be his Beta. You would have been an Alpha and he would have had to fight you, and even without experience, you would have won. He’d have stayed dead if that had happened.’

“O-kay,” Stiles drawled, taking the turn towards’ the loft. “Clift-notes it, Void, if Derek bit me now…”

‘Alpha or nogitsune, your choice.’

“And the mates thing? Is that what I think it is?”

‘Yes.’

“Is it pre-destined or something? Could we not, you know?”

‘I don’t know why you wouldn’t. I can see your thoughts, feel your emotions. I know how you feel about him.’

“Because his cousin has been glued to my side and I’m still kind of hung up on Lydia?” Stiles asked.

‘Neither of these do I understand.’ Void said confused. ‘The child was a coyote until a short while ago. She hasn’t lived as a human since she was nine years old. I am a bastard, I will readily admit that, but I would never attempt to be with someone who does not have the mental capacity to make those types of decisions and the banshee cannot decide on what she wants. She drags you along, giving you just enough attention to keep you fawning over her, but you know she doesn’t see you as anything more than a source of information, maybe a begrudging ally, but never as a romantic partner, which is a good thing, she is too fickle for you.’

Stiles slammed on the breaks, Void’s words rattling around in his head and making him nauseous.

“Oh my God,” he breathed out, horrified. He’d never made the connection before, but Void was right. Malia had been a kid when she’d last been human and now they were all expecting her to act and behave like that had never happened. Like she’d grown-up like they all had - braces, acne, first crushes, learning about relationships and everything - and she hadn’t.

And Lydia, well, nothing like a slap to the face to really hammer it home that he wasn’t worthy.

‘You misunderstand,’ Void chastised. ‘You are a protector. A, well, not a healer in the medical sense, but in the emotional sense. You have taken in all these lost children and tried to give them the family they are lacking. You stand up to their Alpha and to each of them and tell them how to behave, like a parent scolding unruly children. You set out punishments and praise and they know they can rely on you.’

“But I didn’t listen,” Stiles said. “I kept persuing Lydia even when Jackson warned me off and…God, I’m as bad as Kate, not taking no for an answer and Malia…Fuck, I need to talk to Peter about what needs to happen to her.”

‘No,’ Void soothed. ‘The Argent’s do not care about anyone but themselves. They are the real agents of chaos in the world. They and others like them. The banshee is a child who has never had to answer for her actions. She could have told you she wasn’t interested and to stop behaving like you were at any point from the age of 12 and yet she didn’t. She let you continue to act as if you had a chance. She was in the wrong. As for Malia, you didn’t know. Now you do and what you do with this information will determine the type of man you become.’

“And the other thing? You never said.” He muttered softly, pulling himself out of the jeep after he parked. He saw the flutter of curtains in the loft’s window and knew he’d need to keep his voice down or risk nosy werewolves listening in.

‘It is not pre-destined. Shifters can identify potential partners by scent. The more the potential, the stronger the draw. It is why Scott is so hung-up on Allison. She has a very strong biochemical pull to her scent. As a human, even with a Spark, you would have had a hard time understanding why you were so drawn to Derek, and even Malia and Peter, by association. The Hales have a similar chemical scent, although Derek’s will be the strongest.’

That means Derek could smell it, he thought to Void as he climbed into the deathtrap that was Derek’s elevator, and he chose to ignore it. To actively go after my freaking English teacher.

‘That bitch was using a spell to mimic the strongest emotional pull Derek felt. Guess whose it was?’

Are you serious?

‘Take a breath, little one,’ Void said with a gentle rasp, ‘and then tell me if I’m lying to you.’

Peter met Stiles at the door, his signature smarmy expression dropping into a look of shock and then utter glee when Stiles inadvertently flashed orange eyes and curled his lip, a low, almost subsonic growl slipping out.

“Don’t,” Stiles warned the older man. He didn’t need to be heir apparent to a chaos fox to know Peter had picked up on his new instincts, or abilities, he wasn’t sure which was more appropriate.

‘For now, instinct. The more fox-like traits are starting to slip through, along with my memories. By the time you turn eighteen, I’ll have been fully integrated into your psyche and powers.’

That sounds ominous.

‘Not as much as you think. You will still be you. The dominant personality, thoughts, feelings…all the human things. When a nogitsune chooses a successor, we give up all that is us to our heir, who, in turn, will one day select an heir to pass their knowledge and abilities on to. This heir, however, must be a Spark, which is much rarer than that idiot Druid would have you believe. As a nogitsune without a Spark, we are simply a spirit trapped in a rather limiting fly form. As a nogitsune integrated with a Spark, you will have the ability to pass down your powers to your children or another of our choosing, just as an Alpha wolf does when their own child is ready.’

What if I don't find another Spark?

'Then we will revert to our spirit form. I have been locked inside this form for decades since losing my last Spark.'

If I say no, what happens to me?

'Your abilities will eventually overwhelm your physical body. You draw too much power into you as it is. Without the Pack to need to defend, you would already have started to burn out from them.'

What you're saying is I don't really have a choice.

'I'm saying that before too long, if you don't fully take control of my powers, then one of your wolves will have to bite you or you risk the same fate as your mother.'

“So, not something I should be freaking out about, then?” Stiles groaned as he crossed the room to flop down onto the sofa he’d finally managed to bully Derek into buying.

“What are you going on about?” the man in question asked as he descended the spiral stairs.

“Oh, nothing much, just potentially the end of the world or my begetting an empire, I haven’t decided,” Stiles groused, leaning backwards over the sofa to glance at Derek upside down. It also had the distinct advantage of (seemingly) inadvertently exposing the long pale column of his neck, which, now that he was getting glimpses of being more than human, were telling him a hell of a lot.

He fought back a knowing grin. “So, I have two questions for you guys…”

Peter raced to sit in Derek’s recliner, practically bouncing in his glee at forcing the younger man to settle beside Stiles on the sofa. He glowered the entire time, but now Stiles knew why.

“First off, nogitsune and sparks, what do you know about them?” he directed the question at Peter, since he squirrelled information away in his brain like a damn packrat.

Stiles was suitably vindicated when the older man’s eyebrows disappeared into his hair line in surprise.

Peter gave a low whistle as he sat forward. “That explains a few things actually,” he said, tapping his chin with a finger.

“How long has it been?”

Stiles shrugged. “A few weeks. Since the darach, I guess.”

‘Before,’ Void corrected. ‘The darach was just the catalyst to make myself known, but your mother’s death was when I chose you.’

“Well, shit,” Stiles muttered, running a hand through his hair in agitation. Beside him, Derek shifted anxiously, unconsciously responding to his rising distress. “Okay, so, like, my mom, apparently, but that bitch moved the timescale up.”

Peter frowned in concentration. “Are you in pain? You haven’t been sleeping and, quite frankly, you look like shit.”

Stiles flipped him off without malice. “Jeez, thanks, Peter, that’s what a guy likes to hear you know.”

Peter leered at him. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, sweetheart, but I’ll never lie.”

Stiles barked out a laugh even as Derek growled and flashed his eyes at Peter. “Way to be a creeper, Petey.”

He glanced over at Derek. “Death didn’t reset that, unfortunately, huh, Sour Wolf?” he asked, knocking their shoulders together. Now that he could smell the faintest hint of what the wolves could, he was getting an entirely new perspective into the pair's dynamic.

“I have no idea what you two are talking about,” Derek grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and slinking down into the cushions pouting. Embarrassment and frustration warred with confusion and a low-level simmer of distrust. Stiles didn’t like that last smell at all.

“So, fun fact, Deaton withheld some important information, again.”

“What do you mean?” Derek asked, frowning.

“I mean that I’m a Spark, capital S, and that like every good supernatural story, I’ve got a skeleton in my family tree.”

“English, Stiles,” Derek grumbled, confused and embarrassed. Funny, Stiles had never realized how often those two emotions went together for the man and it explained so, so much about his personality.

“My mom was a Spark. Apparently, she had less ability than I do, but enough to attract the attention of a nogitsune, or chaos fox. Void chose her as his successor, but the combination of an unstable nemeton, unstable Spark, and powerful nogitsune made her lose her mind.” He paused to take a deep, shuddery breath, closing his eyes as he remembered just how crazy she was towards the end.

He felt a tentative hand on his knee and smiled tightly. “I’m okay, Big Guy,” he said gently, blinking away tears. He glanced up into Derek’s concerned eyes and covered the man’s hand before he could move it. He tangled their fingers together awkwardly, squeezing them to tell Derek he was okay without saying the words, because, as much as he lied to the world, he didn’t lie to Derek.

“It’s an old wound,” he corrected at the look, knowing the other’s had heard the skip in his heart. “I’m used to it.”

Derek pursed his lips in agitation, but nodded his understanding.

“Anyways, so, without mom, Void - that’s the nogitsune - he didn’t have an heir and I was too young. Apparently Sparks come into their powers gradually as they get older and it’s not like I had anyone to teach me, so, even though I should have already been learning about what I could do and what Void can do, I got baby werewolves and a supernatural shitshow instead.”

“Why you?” Derek asked. “There have to be other Sparks out there, why does he want you?”

“I’m going to take that as you being concerned and not you thinking I’m worthless to him,” Stiles said a little hurt. When Derek flushed with frustrated embarrassment, he squeezed his fingers again. “Sparks are rare, and nogitsunes are rarer, so, yeah, he didn’t actually have much of a choice in the matter, but we’re…” he thought about the best way to explain how he was feeling. “Sort of like two sides of the same coin.”

He glanced at Peter. “If you’d bitten me, I’d have been an Alpha, not a Beta, and Void’s pretty sure we’d have ripped your throat out, but without all the fun zombie-times, so thanks for not doing that, I guess.”

“You threatened to bite him?” Derek snarled, standing and dragging Stiles, who still had a hold of his hand, up against his side.

“Woah, Big Guy,” Stiles’ said, patting Derek’s abs awkwardly with his free hand (and holy Batman was the dude ripped under all those tight shirts, which he already knew, but still, feeling is believing, kids!). “It’s all good, Der,” he soothed, shooting a look at Peter to keep his damn mouth shut. “He didn’t threaten me, just sort of asked and then heavily implied he could do it anyways, but he didn’t!” he emphasized, clutching Derek’s shirt when the wolf moved to strike at his uncle.

“He didn’t and I’m all good, because really, who would want an ADHD Alpha wolf running around, am I right?” he chuckled a little breathlessly, inadvertently hurting himself with his own words. His scent must have changed enough that both men turned to look at him with concern.

Derek’s arm wrapped around his back, pulling him in against his side. “You would have been a great wolf, Stiles,” he said gruffly, unsure how to be soft, but trying.

Stiles gave him a thankful smile. “Well, I still could be,” he warned. “Void said if I’m bit before I’m eighteen, like, intend to turn bit, not, other types…of…um…bites…or…well, I’ll be a wolf, but after that, it’s fox all the way,” he stammered, flushing scarlet.

He blatantly ignored Peter’s laughing face.

“A fox.”

“Yup.”

“With all the shifter…”

“Perks? Yeah, um, I’ve been starting to get those since the beginning I guess.”

“What does that mean, sweetheart?” Peter asked.

“It means there’s no way I should have been able to hold Derek up in the pool, or hidden him from my dad when he was on the run, or not, you know, died every time I was on my own and something attacked.”

He reached out without thinking, rubbing at Derek’s furrowed brow. “No need to glare a hole in the concrete, Der. Void explained that my Spark is like the Alpha spark in you. If I got bit now, before I’d fully taken all of Void into me, I could be turned into something else, but once we’re integrated, it’s just me – an Alpha Fox, whose powers make him a nogitsune.”

“How can you trust anything he says?” Derek asked.

“Typically, you couldn’t, I couldn’t. If he’d shown himself to Scott or you without me knowing what was going on, then we would have been fucked. Like, hardcore gang-bang-level fucked, because that meant that he had decided you weren’t worthy and that would have been way no bueno.”

Derek’s frown got worse. “What does that mean?”

“Oh!” Peter said excitedly. “So that part’s true? And it’s even more important because of,” he glanced between the two in an incredibly obviously manner and Stiles wanted to both thank the man and strangle him when Derek went rigid against his side.

“Why yes, Peter, and thanks for tossing that into the ring before we got everything else out of the way,” he grumbled.

“Okay, so, as Void and I merge into one Spark-Nogitsune-whatever, I have been starting to get some of his shifter abilities. Nothing too much at any one time, but a bit of extra strength when I needed it, a bit of speed and endurance…and now a bit of his senses.”

Derek tried to jerk away from him, but he held fast and kept him pinned to his side. “Tonight was the first time I’d ever smelled anything at all and it’s nowhere near what you guys can smell, though it will apparently get better. But yeah, I’ve got a bit more understanding of why some things have played out the way they have and we will be talking about that, but not right now.”

He took a deep breath and let it out, his eyes glowing as he looked at Derek. “Void also gave me a crash course on how chemosignals can also distinguish potential in a partner and dropped a term I hadn’t found in my reading. Alpha’s Mate. Interesting concept.”

He ticked the items off on his fingers, “Apparently, they support the Alpha with Pack dynamics, are especially concerned over the most vulnerable members of the Pack, tends to not listen when they disagree with the Alpha’s decisions, etc.. But, they also show the Alpha the utmost respect and concern, because the Alpha’s Mate is the other half of the Alpha Pair. It’s a romantic relationship and like any relationship, there has to be balance.”

“I figure, even if a potential match isn’t turned into a Mate, even if the two people are just friends, which, hypothetically speaking, the actual born shifter should understand chemosignals enough to know that the first option is most definitely on the table, at least from the person who did not know about any of this until two hours ago, but even if nothing happens, there has to be respect in the relationship, and fear and anger are the easiest ways to fuck that up, so I’ve decided I’m not going to be afraid anymore.”

He took a deep cleansing breath, catching the faintest hint of panic and hope, and tugged Derek down onto the couch, sitting so he could face him. “The entire Pack has been running on fear and anger and distrust and it’s the reason why everything got messed up, so regardless of everyone else, you and me, we need to be solid. I am willing to try and be more respectful, or at least drag your ass into the hallway or something so the kids don’t see mom and dad fighting, but I need you to do the same. I think the one thing we should have learned from the Alphas and the darach mess is that we have to be a united front. The entire Pack. And that starts with us – Alpha and whatever the hell I am.”

“And Scott?” Derek asked. “Where does he fit into this, since he’s your Alpha.”

“Scott McCall is not and never will be my Alpha,” Stiles snarled, eyes flashing and the scent of shadowed moonlight (whatever than meant) flooding the room.

“But he’s…” Derek said confused.

“Derek Hale, for such a smart guy, you are sort of dumb, aren’t you?” Stiles teased, reigning in the need to rip something apart with his bare hands. “1) Scott is my brother and an idiot who didn’t believe he’d been turned into a werewolf even after you showed him. 2) He has left me, and you, out to dry more times than I can count. 3) He cannot focus on the big picture, like, at all. 4) He sided with Gerard and Deucalion, so, no, that’s never going to happen. 5) He doesn’t listen. He let’s things go that should be killed and he refuses to get his hands dirty. So, sure, great. He’s a True Alpha because he was willing to sacrifice himself for his friends. I swear to God Derek, if that was the only requirement, then you should have had red eyes before the damn fire and definitely after saving all of us all the damn time.”

Derek’s face went infinitely soft as he listed to the teen rant. By the end, Stiles was practically vibrating in righteous indignation and Derek was shaking his head in fondness. “Stiles, breathe, it’s fine. I don’t understand Scott, never have and I probably never will, but it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“What? Why?” he asked.

Peter slipped out of the room, leaving the two to talk. This next part was going to be difficult enough for his taciturn nephew.

Derek bit the inside of his cheek. He wasn’t like Stiles, able to just say whatever the hell he was feeling. He hadn’t been like that since Paige, but Stiles knew about her. About what happened, and everything since. He was the one person Derek trusted, even when he didn’t trust himself and all this talk about mates and nogitsunes told him one thing.

“I can’t do this without you,” Derek said brokenly. “I tried, I really did, and they all…we lost Boyd and I almost lost Cora and…”

“Hey, hey, no, come on, Der,” Stiles said, shuffling forward until he could wrap his arms around Derek’s shoulders. He had always been more tactile than most and running with wolves just made it worse, but he’d only ever touched Derek with softness the one time. When they lost Boyd just a few weeks prior. It was a huge, gaping wound for all of them, but for Derek the most. He’d lost another member of his Pack. Stiles was bound and determined it would be their last loss.

“Derek, Der, you cannot take than on. That was Kali and Deucalion and the Wicked Bitch of the East.”

Derek tried to smile at that. “Don’t you mean Wicked Witch of the West?”

“I stand by what I called that East-Coast whore, thanks,” Stiles snarked back, jealous anger and hate rolling in his gut at the thought of what she did to Derek. Seriously, who slept with a guy with claw marks ripping him open? Whores, that’s who. Magic sucking whores.

Derek and Void snickered.

He glanced up guiltily. “Uh, I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

Derek nodded.

‘Yes, you did, little one, but I think, in this instance, it worked in your favor.’

“Sorry,” he muttered, face bright red.

“Don’t be,” Derek said, leaning back against the arm of the couch and out of Stiles’ hold. “It’s nice. Not all the time of course; but, I never have to worry about you saying something you don’t mean. That’s nice. Knowing where I stand, even if you hate my guts.”

“I never hated your guts, dude,” Stiles said startled.

“Don’t call me, dude, Stiles, and I’m pretty sure you did in the woods.”

Stiles couldn’t help himself, he snorted, loudly. “I wanted to climb you like a tree and then freaked out because I hadn’t come out to myself, let alone anyone else. So, yeah, not exactly hate, dude.”

Derek sucked in a sharp breath at his words and Stiles added a new smell to his repertoire – arousal.

The sharp, spicy scent was almost immediately covered in shame, remorse, and disgusted fear that took Stiles more than a few seconds to decipher, but when he did, his own anger and disgusted frustration sparked.

“Don’t you dare compare yourself to that pedophile bitch,” he snarled, his features sharpening and eyes glowing brightly as the fox inside stretched. “You are nothing like her. She didn’t taint you or make you unworthy or break you. She twisted your grief and she preyed on your innocence. But she didn’t break you and she sure as hell didn’t make you ANYTHING like her.”

Stiles leaned forward, a hand on either side of Derek’s hips on the couch cushion and stared straight into Derek’s eyes. “I know exactly what that bitch did and I know you are the strongest person I’ve every met, because you survived her, twice! You hear me, Derek Hale? You are nothing like her and if you ever say you are again, I will hit you upside the back of the head. And considering in five months I turn eighteen, there is nothing wrong with any feelings anyone has, and that hit is going to actually hurt if I do it, do you understand me?”

Derek stared at the teen for several long seconds.

“You actually think it’ll hurt?” he eventually asked.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the wolf, his lip curling up in a low growl. “Try me, Wolf-man,” he taunted, loving the flare of desire and tint of red the challenge brought out in Derek.

“Stiles,” Derek warned.

“Alpha,” Stiles said back, pushing his intent into the word.

The red was much more pronounced this time. “You’re playing with fire, little fox,” Derek growled, pushing up into Stiles’ space from where he was still leaning over Derek.

“Apparently that’s kind of my schtick,” Stiles said with a wide smile and sparkling eyes. “Who would have guessed?”

Derek full on wolf growled at that, sitting up all the way and forcing Stiles backwards onto the sofa. “We can’t do this.”

“Why? Because of fear or disinterest? If it’s fear I call bullshit, if you look me in the eyes and tell me you have no interest in me that way, then fine. I’ll back the hell off and keep my mouth shut, but it has to be the truth and I can hear that nifty little blip now, so you can’t lie.”

Derek swallowed harshly. “I’m not…”

Stiles reached up and placed his palm flat over Derek’s heart, making the man stutter.

“What, Derek?” Stiles asked sincerely. “Tell me what’s going on in your head. I swear to God, I will respect your decision either way and I will help you with the Pack, regardless.”

Derek groaned as he dropped his forehead against Stiles’ collarbone, crushing the teen’s hand between their bodies. “I don’t know if I can, Stiles.”

“Is it because I’m a guy?”

Derek snorted, “No, that’s not an issue.”

“Huh, is it…is it me? I know I’m not supermodel level like the rest of you but…”

Derek’s head snapped up as he snarled. “No! And that’s bullshit, Stiles. Whoever told you that you weren’t attractive was a jealous asshole.”

Stiles blinked in surprise. “Wow, two curse words when I wasn’t sure you knew what they were.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “I know how to curse, idiot. For as much as you’re over, I’m surprised I remember anything that isn’t a curse.”

“And I can do it in Japanese now too, cool huh?” he said with amusement.

The comment made Derek sober. “I don’t know what any of this means. You’re attractive and I’ve been interested, but you were sixteen when we met and I couldn’t…”

“No, I get that, Derek. I do and I really hope you know that I would never pressure you, but there’s a difference between shutting the potential for us completely down versus taking things slow and seeing if it goes anywhere.”

“Void said…don’t take this the wrong way, but Void said half of my mom’s problems were because she didn’t submit to Talia. That she was alone without a Pack to stabilize the magic. I think of you assholes as my Pack and I’ve never submitted to anyone before and let’s be real, my personality isn’t made for that, but I want to be a real part of the Pack. I want to call you my Alpha and have a magical binding string of fate connecting us, even if it’s just Alpha and whatever I am.”

“Even if that’s all it could ever be?” Derek asked worriedly.

Stiles bit his lip to keep from saying something he’d regret. “Yeah, Der,” he sighed softly, feeling the truth and weight of his words on his own soul. “Even then.”

Derek looked at his chest, then into Stiles’ eyes. His own flickering with a sort of wonder. “You really mean that. You’re not lying.”

“I don’t lie to you, Derek. Not about the important stuff.”

“I know, I just…”

Suddenly it clicked. “You don’t think you're important, do you?”

“And you do?” Derek countered. “You throw yourself into every fight. You get between wolves! Stiles, you can’t do shit like that. You get hurt, you stay hurt, or die.”

“I won’t soon enough,” he said, frowning.

“But you do now,” Derek insisted, cupping Stiles’ face in his hands. “I’ve tried to keep you safe, but it’s like you draw the crazy to you and…” Derek stopped mid-rant. “No,” he said breathlessly. “Please tell me you aren’t actually attracting the crazy to you?”

“Umm…” Stiles said eloquently. “Void? Any comments?”

‘He’s not wrong. We do attract a certain amount of chaos, it is what we feed on, after all, but the problems you have faced are not our doing. The nemeton is damaged. Think about it as a frayed wire shorting out. Each time it sparks, it draws another creature searching for its power.’

“Wait, are you telling me the nemeton is drawing all the monsters because it’s on the fritz?!”

‘For lack of a better term…yes.’

“Can we fix it? Make the bad guys go away for good?”

‘Yes, but it will take time. We are not complete yet.’

“What will it take?”

‘Another kitsune, the banshee, a hellhound, and a sacrifice.’

“Banshee’s and hellhounds we’ve got. Will I count as the kitsune?”

‘No, but one is close, so that will not be a problem.’

Stiles glanced at Derek, his voice a mere thread of sound. “And the sacrifice?’

Void’s voice was oddly gentle, as if he understood and acknowledged their potential Mate’s hurt. ‘More than one has been provided, we will just need to direct it to the right spot.’

“So, we could do it? We could fix everything?”

‘Yes.’

Stiles’ smile translated Void’s response clearly enough and it gave Derek the courage he needed to take one last chance.

“I’m willing to try.”

“To cleanse the tree?”

Derek huffed out a small laugh. “No, dumbass, us. This. I’m willing to try if we go slow and the Pack and the tree thing has to come first. I need those dealt with before I can even think about my own past.”

Stiles nodded, he understood what Derek wasn’t saying - before he could deal with another person potentially betraying him. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Derek repeated, brow raised in inquiry.

Stile slipped his arms around Derek’s neck and smiled that blinding smile of his that made his eyes twinkle and Derek’s heartrate pick-up.

“Yup.”

“Oh, well then…um…”

Stiles snickered. “How about we start with take-out and whichever of my dvds is still in my laptop and then tomorrow I come over and we can go through all the different things going on and start working on a game plan?”

Derek sighed in relief. Just because he was willing, didn’t make it any easier, but this was so close to their normal end-of-the-world routine that he was comfortable with it. “That sounds great.”

“Awesome. We’re trying that new Thai place that just opened and you’re paying since I bought pizza last time.”

Derek rolled his eyes but dutifully sat up to reach for his wallet and his cell. He had a feeling this was going to become a rather common occurrence in his future and for once, it didn’t scare him. Stiles was chaos incarnate long before he met Void and if the fox could make his Mate friend safer and help them fix the nemeton, then he was willing to put his fear to the side and trust that Stiles could handle whatever came at them.

“You are, you know,” he said as he waited to give the restaurant their order.

“Am what?” Stiles asked as he set up Iron Man Two.

“Pack.”

Stiles’ head snapped up, his eyes glowing and his scent warm and gooey. “Do you mean that?”

“Yes,” Derek said, reaching down to wrap a clawed hand around Stiles’ throat and tip it up, exposing his neck. “I know I said you weren’t, but you were always Pack to me, right from the beginning.”

“Then do it,” Stiles said on a throaty whisper. “Claim me, because I’m yours.”

“Different type of claim, Stiles,” Derek breathed across his skin before he bit down, a smile on his lips.

Claws burst from Stiles’ fingers as he scrambled for Derek’s shoulders, digging in as he simultaneously pulled Derek down onto the couch and arched up to claim him back, the fullness of Void’s fox ripping through him as it filled him.

Small fangs filled his mouth as he grasped Derek’s throat in his mouth, hesitating just long enough to feel Derek nod. This wasn’t a mating bite. This wasn’t a mating bite! He rambled internally, making Void groan.

‘You bite to solidify that as much as Derek is your Alpha Wolf, you are his Alpha Fox,’ he explained. ‘The bite shows trust. Acceptance. You cannot have one without the other, not for us.’

Stiles let the knowledge settle his building freak-out. Derek had claimed him and Void was right. He could feel the Alpha in the fox, feel it tremble with the need to assert its own dominance, but with an acknowledgement that Derek would be the only wolf he would ever submit to.

He bit cleanly and swallowed the hot, coppery tang of Derek’s blood. He would never admit that there had been a Twilight reference that flashed through his mind, but it was quickly derailed by the sound of a stranger’s voice close to their heads.

It was only after the take-out guy asked for the fifth time what they wanted to order that the pair released each other.

“Woah,” Stiles’ muttered, swaying slightly in his seat as the bond settled on him like a warm blanket and a double shot of expensive Scotch.

Derek gave him a shit-eating grin, licking Stiles’ blood off his lips and giving their order without missing a beat.

“Show off,” Stiles muttered tiredly.

Derek hung up and reached over to press Stiles onto the couch so he was laying on his side before shocking the teen by crawling over him and wedging himself between Stiles and the back of the sofa.

“Wha?”

“Pack bonding,” Derek muttered, wrapping his arms around Stiles and burying his nose behind Stiles’ ear.

“Uh, tell me you did not snuggle like this with Isaac or Erica,” Stiles groaned, shifting restlessly when Derek snuffled the edge of the claiming bite.

“No, I didn’t feel comfortable enough. They crash here sometimes. Isaac has his own room and I’d hear them watching movies or stuff, but they never…they were human, before, they don’t know.”

“And they weren’t told, Derek,” Stiles said softly, reaching back to drag his fingers through the dark tresses. “We’re kind of stupid, you have to tell us these things and be prepared for a bunch of awkward questions.”

“It’s not awkward with you,” he muttered against Stiles’ neck. “Yesterday, it would have been awkward, but now it’s like when my mom would hold me when I was little. Safe. You make me feel safe.” He sighed; his eyes drifting shut on a wistful sigh and making Stiles’ feel like a right twat for thinking this was anything sexual. Still, he made Derek Hale feel safe. That was a high he was going to ride for days.

They laid like that until the food arrived, when Stiles managed to make them eat before Derek pulled him back down onto the couch.

“Stay,” he whispered sleepily.

Stiles typed out a quick message to his dad saying he was at Danny’s, because he knew he wouldn’t check with him, and closed his eyes. Tomorrow things would be different, they might even go to shit, but that was a future-Stiles problem.

Right now, he was going to snuggle down with his Alpha and bask in the warmth of the Pack bond. Tomorrow he’d step up as Derek’s Second and the Alpha’s Mate, because there was no point in either of them lying about that now, not with what he could feel in their bond, and he’d drag the others back with him and show them their bonds. He’d help Derek and Peter explain what was wrong with them and how to fix it and they’d work everything out.

But that was for tomorrow.

“Sleep,” Derek muttered grumpily, making him smile.

Tonight was apparently for sleep and Pack bonding and cuddling.

He didn't even notice he was no longer in pain, no longer hungry, all he knew was that tonight was a good night.

-tbc-

Chapter Text

“Honey! I’m home!” Stiles called out, prodding the younger teen through the large-gapping doorway and into the loft’s living room. He was proud to say it actually looked like a living room now, complete with two sofas around a large coffee table, actual curtains bracketing the huge bay window, and a few beanbags for good measure piled up in the corner between Derek’s recliner and one of four bookshelves. There was a t.v. mounted on one wall, a tangle of game consoles and dvds piled up in front of it and a large dinning table between the living room and kitchen.

He could hear movement upstairs, the shuffling of Isaac pacing his bedroom floor muttering about his Catcher in the Rye essay and then the crash-slide-thump as the book was thrown against the wall in frustration. He’d need to remember to check in with the golden headed beta before he headed home tonight.

“Der?” he called, holding the boy by the shoulder in the center of the room. He tilted his head to listen for the steady heartbeat of his Alpha, smiling when he heard the creak of the bathroom door. Soundproofing in a building full of weres was a necessity, but it did make it a little difficult tracking everyone.

“Stiles, what’s going on?” Derek asked as he came out of the bathroom. He was drying his hands on a small towel and had an adorably confused look on his face at the boy standing awkwardly besides the fox. He smelled strongly of nerves and a little fear, anger, and weirdly, hope. He also smelled like a newly turned wolf.

“Congrats! It’s a boy!” He cheered with mock enthusiasm.

The pacing stopped upstairs. Stiles knew it’d be seconds before Isaac joined them and grimaced.

“Look, we had a little problem today and Scott bit the kid,” he jerked his head at the boy who looked suitably panicked.

“And you decided to bring Scott’s Beta here? To our den?” Derek deadpanned.

“Scott’s brilliant idea was to duct tape the kid and toss him in his bath tub, so yes, Sourwolf, I decided to bring him here.”

Derek sighed, heavily, and glanced up just as Stiles and the kid turned to look at Isaac leaning over the stairs with sparkles in his eyes.

“Does this mean I’m the big brother?” he asked adorably.

Stiles cooed, making Derek shake his head in fond exasperation. The kid, Liam, looked like he’d sucked on a lemon.

“I’m not a baby,” he grumbled petulantly. He crossed his arms over his chest and glowered at the room in general unwittingly mimicking Derek in the early-days. He didn’t even know why he’d let Stiles drag him out of Scott’s house, only that the older teen made him feel safe, but also kind of stupid. But how was he to know that monsters were real?

Stiles ruffled the kid’s hair affectionately. He’d sort of, maybe, kinda gone a bit overboard with the whole Alpha’s Mate, Pack Mom-schtick, but since he’d kidnapped a few of the more unruly Pack members and forced them to sit through Werewolf 101 with him, Peter, and Derek, things had been a lot more copasetic in the Stilinski-Hale Pack.

And yeah, that was a thing he was totally loving.

Stilinski-Hale (because it sounded better than Hale-Stilinski, Derek, that’s why) with the McCall Pack doing their own, tangentially related thing because Scott couldn’t work with Derek after he’d ‘stolen’ Stiles (seriously, Scott?). He’d rolled his eyes so hard at that little bit of juvenile behavior that he’d had a headache for an entire day and not even being a mostly integrated spark-nogitsune had helped.

“Stiles?” Derek asked, tugging on their bond lightly.

“Right, sorry. Guys, this is Liam…”

“Dunbar,” Liam groused.

“Right, Liam Dunbar. So, apparently there were Wendigos in town.”

Derek crossed to him quickly, hands patting Stiles down as he looked for injuries. “Were you bit?!” he asked worriedly, turning Stiles’ chin back and forth and even going so far as trying to lift his shirt to check him.

“I’m fine, Big Guy,” Stiles said, slapping at Derek’s hand and extricating himself from the completely unwarranted concern. “I appreciate the worry, but I’m thinking the kids don’t need to see you stripping me anytime soon, all right?”

Derek’s ears went red at the implication, which Stiles thought was adorable, even if it didn’t mean what the pups thought it did. He was still a few months shy of his birthday and Derek hadn’t initiated anything beyond cuddling that normally left Stiles just as frustrated as he was enamored.

Still, the co-leading the Pack thing had come leaps and bounds in the month since Void started talking to him. Jackson, Ethan, Danny, Aiden, Isaac, Malia, and Erica were firmly in the Stilinski-Hale Pack, with Peter taking up the Left-Hand position and Stiles the Right, along with being Alpha’s Mate/Pack Mom.

The Sheriff kept them up-to-date on possible issues, but was still on the fence about the whole Pack thing. Stiles thought that had more to do with him dating Derek then the actual supernatural-shifter issue, since he’d known about Claudia being a Spark and hadn’t told Stiles!

(Okay, so maybe he was still a little salty over all that, but still, it was the principle of the matter!)

Lydia, Allison and Chris, a new girl named Kira (who was a kitsune! good job Void for calling that one) and her parents, Parrish (Hellhound!), Deaton, and Melissa were with Scott. The fact that Scott had all the necessary components for cleansing the Nemeton was something Derek, Peter and he were working on, but if it stopped the monsters and gave Scott back a semblance of normalcy, then he was hopeful he’d be able to get him on their side, at least for this.

Considering Liam was standing next to Stiles instead of Scott, who’d bit the kid, he still thought they could all be one big Pack one day, but only when Scott got his head out of Allison’s…well, yeah.

Finally free of Derek’s roving hands (self-preservation really when in a room with his pseudo-children), he waved Isaac down and pushed Liam over to one of the couches.

“The Walcott’s aren’t a threat,” Derek said. “I went to school with their eldest son, Michael. The family survived on unclaimed corpses and weren’t dangerous if they were fed.”

“Oh, gross, ew,” Stiles groaned, his features twisting in revulsion. “No, this was some crazy dude that got out of Eichen. Patrick Clark. Dad gave me the heads up after school and I was on my way here to tell the Pack when Scott called in a panic.”

“He actually called you?” Isaac asked surprised. He was texting the others to give them the heads up, the tell-tale buzzing in his back pocket saying he’d sent it to their group chat.

Things had been tense when the Packs had found out about Stiles and Derek’s relationship, but everyone but Scott and Lydia seemed to get over it pretty quickly. It was weird, because Scott still acted like he and Stiles were ScottandStiles, and not, ScottandAllison and StilesandDerek. Lydia made a lot more sense, seeing as how Jackson had finally come out as being gay to the Pack. Him hooking up with Danny and Ethan had been a shock that Stiles was still trying not to think about, because for as many times as he’d seen all of them naked in the locker room, he never, ever needed to see what any of them looked like during sex. Again.

“Patrick cornered Liam on the hospital roof and Scott bit him after he fell off,” Stiles explained.

“And the Wendigo?” Peter asked, stepping through the loft doorway with Malia in tow.

She’d been splitting her time between Mr. Tate and the Hales and was seeing a psychiatrist to deal with the trauma of mauling her adoptive mother and sister. Peter had threatened to bankrupt Mr. Tate unless he allowed Malia to work with a tutor to get her up to speed in school, so now she did mornings at the high school in English, P.E., and Art classes and tutoring in History, Math, and Science in the afternoon with Peter.

The older man ran a hand across Isaac and Derek’s shoulders and gave Stiles a one-armed hug as he passed. Stiles still found it weird, how close they’d gotten, but it was good too. He could feel Peter in the Pack bonds and felt it as the crazy evened out to normal levels. He still had his slip-ups, but Stiles was no longer afraid he’d come home one day and find the Pack slaughtered and Peter sporting red eyes. Kate’s exceptionally brutal death last week by his hands and the thwarting of a Deadpool started by her and Gerard had gone a long way to solidifying his position in the Pack.

However, it had been Stiles that ended Gerard.

He’d done it quietly and without letting the Pack know what he was planning. Peter had found out where the slimy bastard was hiding and Stiles had let Void out to play. He’d slipped through the shadows of the hidden tunnels and used the foxes’ claws like a zipper - opening him from throat to groin without ever batting an eye. He took his role of protector to their Pack seriously and he was tired of people fucking with them. It didn't mean it didn't affect him though. He'd stumbled outside and been violently ill afterwards and had been in a daze all the way home.

Derek had known as soon as he’d slipped through his window later that night, but he didn’t mention anything beyond asking if he was alright. When Stiles stared at him with dead eyes more orange than brown, he’d stripped the teen of his bloody clothes and started the hottest shower imaginable, bundling Stiles up into soft pajamas in his bed when he came out looking a little less bruised than when he’d gone in.

His dad had found him curled up against Derek’s chest with tear marks on his cheeks from where he’d been crying in his sleep. Stiles told them both about what really happened in the basement later that night. Erica had curled up against his side when Derek brought him over to the loft afterwards. She, too, didn’t need to be told, she just knew.

Jackson had been a surprise. Stiles didn’t know why he thought the former kanima would shy away from a puppy pile, but with a whispered word from Erica, Stiles found himself smooshed between the two wolves, his head in Derek’s lap, with the twins and Danny at his feet and Malia and Isaac curled up around Derek’s back. Peter had excused himself to explain everything that had been happening to Noah and their budding bromance was enough to make Stiles and Derek sweat.

Erica thought it was hilarious, the brat.

“Stiles?” Isaac asked, shifting closer when the teen didn’t answer right away.

“Oh,” he shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Scott said it got away, but I tracked him to the morgue. He won’t be bothering anyone ever again.”

Isaac grimaced. “Bet that went over great with Scott.”

“What went over great?” Erica asked, bouncing in with Danny, Jackson, and the twins behind her.

“Mom killed a Wendigo that tried to eat our new baby brother after Scott let him go,” Isaac summarized.

“Ohhh!” Erica cooed, launching herself at Liam and smothering him against the couch and her chest. “He’s a cutie. Good job, Mom!” She pulled back when Liam started struggling to breathe, holding him at arm’s length. “Huh, he kinda looks like Der with that glower, but the spiky hair and confused face are all Mom.”

The others snickered at her assessment, making Derek and Liam glower (Liam really did look like he was a little kid emulating his dad), while Stiles flipped imaginary hair over his shoulder.

“Don’t mock the Stilinski-Hale genes, Reyes,” he warned. “Or the next one might be a girl.”

“What about Malia?” Danny asked, plopping himself on Aiden’s lap and making the other man roll his eyes before shoving him off towards his brother. Danny smirked when Jackson dragged him in between the two, hissing at Aiden. The whole, werewolf-kanima thing had taken a lot of work to get under control.

“I identify as a coyote first and a girl second,” she said from the kitchen. She’d given Liam a disinterested sniff before wandering off to find the left-over roast chicken.

Aiden crossed his eyes making Isaac cover his mouth to keep from laughing. Malia was mean enough to bite him if she thought he was making fun of her. There was no doubt she was Peter’s daughter.

“Seriously though,” Erica said, draping herself over Isaac and playing with his curls. “If Scott bit him, why is he here?”

Stiles sighed, settling himself in Derek’s lap in the recliner. “Scott’s not capable of taking in a new Beta at this time,” he said politically.

“You mean he doesn’t have time for anyone but Allison,” Jackson sneered, shooting a concerned glance at Isaac. It hadn’t been a secret the other boy had a huge crush on the Huntress.

“That too,” Stiles said with a shrug.

“So, we get to keep him?” Erica bounced, excitedly. This was the most animated she’d been since Boyd’s death, and it made Stiles' heart clench at the thought that they’d almost lost her too. Not to claws or fangs, but to grief. Most days were still hard, but she’d started splitting her time between the loft and the Stilinski’s spare room and the closeness of the Pack seemed to be helping her heal. Stiles could only hope, he missed his Catwoman.

“That’s really up to our Alpha and Liam, pup, but Scott won’t fight us about it if they say yes.”

Liam, who’d been mostly quiet taking everything in snorted loudly. “I don’t think he’d dare after you threatened to pull all his fangs out,” the kid snarked.

Stiles tossed a throw pillow at his head, hissing loudly, “They didn’t need to know the specifics you ungrateful little…”

“Really, Stiles?” Derek cut in.

“He said they were brothers, Derek, and that the bite was a gift and the entire time I’m standing there going, ‘No, Scott, just, no.’ He couldn’t even deliver it right. I swear, I could actually see the hamster running around as he tried to remember what you told him.”

Derek groaned, dropping his head onto Stiles’ shoulder. “He didn’t.”

“He did,” Liam said, nodding. “I didn’t get a lot of it, because who thinks any of this is real? But even I know he didn’t believe what he was saying. It was painful to watch.”

“So, you just got in Stiles’ jeep and came here without knowing anything?” Danny asked incredulously.

“Stiles told me that I was a werewolf now. He told me about Alphas, Betas, and Omegas and about Hunters and the full moon. I didn’t know he was one too though.”

The room went silent.

Liam shifted about, trying to figure out what he’d said that was wrong.

Peter cleared his throat. “You didn’t tell him?”

Stiles bit his lip nervously. “Not everyone gets it, Peter. You know that. I’ll be forever grateful you guys didn’t try and rip my throat out when you found out.”

Jackson tossed a random shoe at Stiles. “Don’t be a dumbass, Stilinski,” he groused. “You guys didn’t turn me away even though I killed a bunch of people as the kanima, or Ethan and Aiden because of Deucalion, and Void’s not even that bad.”

“Exactly!” Erica chimed in. “It’s not like there’s much of a difference between you talking to yourself during a research binge and talking with Void.”

“Basically, no one cares you’ve got a chaos demon shacked up in your brain,” Aiden said. He wasn’t as comfortable around the Pack just yet, but he was getting there. It’d helped when Erica had laid him out with one punch the first time he’d come to talk to Derek without Ethan as a shield.

“A what?!” Liam squeaked. He spun around to face Stiles, his eyes huge.

Stiles shifted uncomfortably on Derek’s lap, only settling when the wolf wrapped his arms around his chest and pulled him against his. “I’m getting better?” Stiles said sheepishly.

“Stiles…” Derek chastised gently. They’d been working on being open about Void and his role in Stiles’ future and the Pack.

“Void is an immortal nogitsune, or fox spirit, that lives off chaos,” he explained slowly. “I’m what they call a Spark, which is a type of magic user. When a Spark and a Nogitsune merge minds and abilities, something we call integration, then the Spark becomes a Nogitsune. Void and I have been working on integrating for a while now and in another few months, I’ll become him.”

“What does that mean?” Liam asked, confusion furrowing his brow.

“It means when I turn eighteen, I’ll become a full-fledged Alpha Fox with all the magic and memories, all the experiences, of an immortal being.”

“You mean like Superman?” he asked innocently. Derek choked on his tongue and the others gave him knowing smirks. Stiles and Derek’s constant debate over who was better - Batman or Superman - was starting to become a Pack in-joke.

Stiles snickered against Derek’s chest. "I’m more of a Batman guy myself, but if I had to go Marvel, I’d probably say I’m more like Mephisto or Deadpool.”

“Mephisto?” Danny asked.

“Extra-terrestrial chaos demon who gives Ghost Rider his powers, uses trickery and illusions, and is immortal. It’s said he was the real snake in the Garden of Eden and lives in his own version of the Christian Hell.”

The entire Pack turned to stare at Peter in bewilderment, making the older man clear his throat and shift in his seat at the desk under the window.

“What?” he asked. “Who do you think Derek got his Marvel collection from?”

Stiles shook his head fondly. “Something like that,” he agreed, glancing at Liam. “What do you think, pup? I ran you through what a Pack does. The responsibilities of the Betas to the Pack and towards Derek and I, and our responsibility towards you and the others. Did you have any questions for us right now?”

“Do I have to choose?”

“Between Scott and us or at all?”

“You and Scott. I don’t want to be an omega or hurt anyone.”

“You’d be welcomed here for training or to just hang-out even if you chose Scott, Liam,” Derek said gently. He saw a lot of himself at that age in the pup and he didn’t trust Scott to do the right thing and teach the kid when he didn’t embrace his own wolf fully.

Liam glanced between Derek and Stiles, thinking. “Why do they call you Mom?” he finally asked, making the teen sputter.

Stiles rolled his eyes while sighing at the Pack’s ribbing at the question.

“I told you that the leader of a Pack is called the Alpha, remember?”

“Well, yeah, it was only an hour ago,” he sassed.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the kid. “And I had to remind you twice to put on your seatbelt, so don’t give me any attitude, young man.”

Isaac elbowed Liam in the side. “That’s why we call him, mom.”

“That and he cooks for us,” Erica said.

“And does the laundry, reminds us to do our homework, keeps Da – Derek happy,” Jackson corrected himself quickly, glowering at Danny who stifled a smile at the slip against Ethan’s shoulder.

“Enough,” Derek said. “Stiles is a few things in the Pack structure. First, he’s an Alpha Fox, and that needs to be respected. When he and Void finish integrating, he’ll be the most powerful of us. Secondly, he’s my Second, which means if I’m not able to give directions or lead the Pack for whatever reason, his word is law. Third, he’s the Alpha’s Mate. The Pack Mom thing is an outdated term for the Alpha’s Mate from back when it was assumed only males could lead a Pack.”

He took a shaky breath. “My mom was my Alpha. My dad the ‘Pack Mom’. When they died, my sister became the Alpha. Alphas can be male or female. Our motto, Alpha, Beta, Omega, reminds us that we can all rise to be an Alpha, or fall to be an Omega due to circumstances or our own folly.”

“It’s all about how you live your life,” Stiles said, picking the story up. “You could be the strongest person on the planet, but bad luck or someone destroying your Pack could turn you into an Omega with one battle. At the same time, you could be the weakest Omega and a personal sacrifice or sheer determination could make you an Alpha.”

“Like Scott?” Liam asked.

“Scott pushed through his own pain to break a mountain ash barrier keeping us from getting to an enemy who was killing lots of people and had captured my dad, Scott’s mom, and Allison’s dad,” Stiles explained.

“And then he wanted to let the bitch go,” Erica snarled, her gold eyes flashing in annoyance.

Stiles nodded his head in acknowledgment. “That’s true too. The whole True Alpha thing doesn’t make any sense. From what I’ve read, he can’t kill or he’ll lose his Alpha status, but at the same time, he would have let that Wendigo go on killing if I hadn’t taken it out.”

Liam went pale at the thought of that guy being left alive to come after him again. “Why?”

“We don’t know. Maybe he’s supposed to be the moral compass for the Pack, but as the only Alpha…” Stiles spread his hands in entreaty. He honestly didn’t have an answer for the kid.

“It’s a dangerous game McCall’s playing,” Ethan said. “Aiden and I were the Omegas of our Pack. The bitches. We only became Alphas after Deucalion helped us kill everyone.”

He leaned around Danny to give Liam a small, rueful smile. “Don’t be like us, kid. We went to Scott and asked to be in his Pack when Derek defeated Deucalion. Scott said no. Derek didn’t have to take us in; not after everything, but he did. He and Stiles gave us a second chance to be Betas instead of Omegas without a Pack. We wouldn’t have survived without them.”

“Why doesn’t Scott join you guys?” he asked.

Stiles and Derek grimaced. “It’s a long story,” the Alpha finally said. “In the beginning, there was a lot of anger around him getting turned against his will and I wasn’t in a good place myself.”

Stiles placed a hand over Derek’s. “Hunters killed Der's family a few years ago. Then his sister was killed and Scott got turned all in the same week. Scott and I, we were like you, unaware of the supernatural. We didn’t handle finding out very well.”

“You handled it just fine,” Peter said from his seat. “Scott whined and moaned and blamed Derek for my actions.” He looked over at Liam. “I was a little crazy, but I’m better now.”

Jackson went to say something scathing but Danny elbowed him in the side and shook his head in warning.

“Anyways, it took a bit, but I eventually realized we really needed to be one unified group, since everyone kept trying to kill us,” Stiles continued.

“And Scott didn’t,” Liam concluded, nodding as he slumped back against the couch.

“Scott doesn’t do change well and feels like Derek stole me when I submitted to him over Scott,” Stiles tried to explain.

“But you’re his mate,” Liam frowned, annoyed on Stiles’ behalf.

“Yup, and I’m an Alpha Fox, so there was no way I’d ever be able to submit to anyone who wasn’t my mate.”

“Is an Alpha Fox like an Alpha Wolf?”

“Yes and no. Foxes don’t normally have an Alpha/Beta/Omega system. Because we don’t need a Pack and typically are only found as small family groups, our default is something in between Alpha and Beta. Parents or the Elders are the leaders. They protect the rest of the family until the kits are old enough to protect themselves. If there are even younger siblings, then the whole family will fight to protect them.”

Stiles tapped his chin with his finger, thinking through some of Void’s earlier memories. “Nogitsune are different in that every Nogitsune is more like an Alpha Wolf. If you put a regular kitsune and a nogitsune in the same room, the nogitsune will fight to be the dominant. I’m good with Kira, because she’s naturally a Beta personality. But her mom…well, Noshiko and Void have a history, a bad one, so we stay away from each other if at all possible. It’s why Kira is with Scott and not us.”

“Do I have to decide tonight?” Liam asked.

“Nope,” Stiles said, popping the ‘p’. “I figured you needed a break from all the bondage and wanted to make sure you knew what was going on. I actually think you should spend some time with both groups to figure out where you belong, but even if you chose Scott, you’ll be welcome to come hang out with us for training or dinner or whatever you need. If you have a problem, or you feel like someone is watching you, you have to tell us. Everyone in our Pack and in Scott’s. We have a lot of bad things coming at us right now and we can’t afford to fuck up.”

He glanced at Danny. “Can you add all our numbers to his phone? He’ll need Scott’s group as well.”

“Yeah,” the hacker said, glancing at Liam. “It’ll only take a minute.”

Liam fished his cell out and tossed it to Danny, whose eyes flashed teal when he caught it. “Woah, what are you?” he asked the other boy.

“Techno-witch. You could say I’ve got a way with computers that’s a bit outside the typical human’s,” he smirked and tossed the phone back at him without ever unlocking it.

“I added our chat app too. It’s encrypted and spelled, so no-one but us can use it.”

“But you never opened the phone!”

“Awesome, huh?”

Jackson and Ethan preened at their boyfriend's abilities. 

“Witches have magic, but they have to be taught what to do with it. Each witch normally has a specialty. My grandmother is a Sea-witch, like the grandma on Moana,” he explained. “My older sister is a Forest-witch. She works for the Parks Department as a Ranger in Yosemite.”

“And you do computer stuff.”

“And I do computer stuff,” he agreed. He gave Stiles a smirk, dimples showing, “I figured out how to spell the onboard computer in Jackson’s Porsche the other day, that was fun.”

Stiles barked out a surprised laugh. “Oh my God, you touched his baby?”

“I do that all the time,” he leered, making Jackson blush furiously and the rest of the Pack gag. “But, yeah. I messed with the car.”

They went back and forth for a bit longer until Liam’s stomach growled loudly.

“Oh God! I’m a horrible Pack Mom,” Stiles exclaimed in horror as he scrambled out of Derek’s lap. “Everyone’s staying for dinner, just give me a few to throw something together.”

“Spaghetti?” Isaac asked pitifully, blinking big blue eyes at the teen as he passed. “And garlic bread?”

“I can help,” Aiden offered, standing.

“Sure,” Stiles said easily. “Let’s see if we’ve got the makings for a Caesar salad and maybe tiramisu. Oh! And that artichoke dip Erica and Peter love….”

“We’ve lost him,” Derek said, smiling fondly as Aiden followed Stiles.

“Should I help?” Liam asked, glancing towards the kitchen.

“Nope!” Erica said with conviction, shaking her head and making the blond ringlets bounce.

“But…”

Derek stood and crossed to the young Beta. “The kitchen is Stiles' happy place. He might come off as being pretty flippant a lot of the time, but he really does enjoy taking care of people and cooking is the main way he does that.”

He reached out a hand and placed it on the boy’s shoulder, calming him. “It was something he used to do with his mom and he doesn’t normally like more than one of us in with him at a time.”

“If he does ask you to help, or he wants to show you how to cook something though, you should do it,” Isaac told him, handing him the remote. “We started doing homemade pizza night once a month. Stiles lets us all make our own and it’s a disaster, but it’s really great too.”

“Derek’s weird and likes pineapple and anchovies on his and Jackson puts broccoli on his,” Malia chimed in. “You’re not weird like them, right?”

“Uh, I sometimes like black olives on mine, but normally I get a meat lovers.”

Malia narrowed her eyes at him, nodding. “Olives are gross, but meat lovers is fine. I guess you can stay.”

“Jeez, thanks,” he muttered, but he was smiling softly. He’d always wanted a big family and this one felt right. He liked them and he felt a lot less angry around Derek and Stiles. He’d been scared of Scott at the beginning, but when he realized what had happened, he’d been angrier than he had ever been and that scared him. Calm was good. Calm kept him from getting expelled again.

“Okay, pups!” Stiles called from the kitchen. “Italian it is, but I’m not making bread from scratch tonight, so someone needs to run to the store and pick up a half-dozen loaves for me and some fresh parmesan.”

“I’ll do it,” Peter said, standing. “Would you like to go with me, my dear?” he asked his daughter.

“No. I’ll stay here,” she said bluntly. She wasn’t being mean; she just hadn’t learned the niceties of polite society yet. She glanced towards the kitchen, not willing to enter when Stiles was cooking. “I'm still hungry. I want jerky. Stiles! Do we have any…” she caught the bag Aiden tossed her and tore into it with her fangs. “T’anks!” she mumbled at him.

The pair got along better than any of the others, which was a bit terrifying, but also a good thing. Erica and Derek were still a little leery around Aiden, but Stiles thought it was good that the pair felt they could be their normal slightly-abrasive selves without fear of retribution.

“Alright then. I’ll be back in a few. Sweetheart, do you need anything else?” he asked, poking his head in the kitchen doorway.

Stiles paused to think through his list. “Maybe another bottle of red? The sauce is going to use the last bottle we’ve got.”

“Not a problem. I’ll pick up two for cooking and one for drinking.”

“Thanks, Peter.”

Peter gave him a smile and wave before he left.

“This is going to take about an hour, so why don’t you guys put something on while we cook?" He asked at normal volume. Not having to yell all the time was one of the perks of being a shifter he really enjoyed.

“Isaac? Pup, why don’t you grab your book and come sit in here with us? I’ll walk you through the key points for your paper.”

“Oh, thank God,” Isaac groaned. “I freaking hate this book.”

“I thought you’d understand it more than some of the others,” Stiles said when he had settled on the stool at the kitchen island. “I mean, the entire thing is about a guy our age who is disillusioned with adulthood and wishes he could be the one to save all the innocents in the world.” He glanced over his shoulder at Isaac. “Wasn’t that what your brother was trying to do when he joined the military? He saw you and your dad and wanted to become a better person so he could save you and others like you.”

“I…” Isaac’s mouth dropped open as he stared at Stiles. “That’s what the book is about?” he finally asked. At Stiles’ nod he shoved the closed book across the kitchen island. “I thought it was just some rich kid bitching about his life. I couldn’t have rented a hotel room or ordered a hooker when things went bad.”

“But could Jackson?” Aiden asked as he put the salad on the island. “Holden’s rich. He’s in a Prep School. Could Jackson have gone out and rented a place if he’d failed all his classes?”

Isaac scrunched his face up. “Yeah, yeah he could have.”

“And he was all pissed off at the world until he found something to protect, right?”

The lanky teen sat up straight, understanding what Aiden was getting at. “Holy shit,” he breathed out. “That makes so much more sense.” He stood up hurriedly. “Thanks, Aiden. Thanks, Mom! I have to write this down, call me for dinner?” he asked as he hurried up the stairs.

Stiles gave Aiden a proud smile, knocking their shoulders together as he passed. “Good job, pup,” he said, making the other boy blush and duck his head with a pleased smile.

Stiles glanced out into the living room, watching as the others brought Liam into the fold. He reached out to the Pack bonds, slowly dragging his own magic over each of them. Love, acceptance, and pride sinking into them and making their connections stronger.

“'I was damn near bawling',” he whispered under his breath. From across the room Derek caught his eye and gave him that amazing smile of his, bunny teeth and all. They were still new, and sort of shiny, but they were his.

His friends. His Pack. His family.

He smiled back, his eyes glowing with warmth.

“'I feel so damn happy.'”

-end-