Protector

Stiles was not one that was easily scared into silence. Under normal circumstances once he was scared he couldn't shut up. But after all the werewolf business, he had been running into many circumstances that were anything but normal. So here he was, on his back, in a corner of Derek's loft, watching Derek pace furiously back and forth in full wolf form, paws and all.

The teen slowly lowered his arm that he had extended out, just in case Derek had the urge to attack him, which he was sure wasn't far from the man's mind. At the movement Derek abruptly stopped pacing and snarled at Stiles. He was over Stiles in a millisecond, causing the teen to completely flatten to the floor and throw both his hands up to brace them against the Alpha's furry chest.

Derek's snout was inches from Stiles' face, making the teen go cross-eyed when he tried to look the wolf in the eyes. That was a mistake, which he quickly fixed, when Derek let out another vicious growl, pulling his lips back more.

Despite fearing that he would more than likely be killed if he opened his mouth, Stiles stuttered out, "I-I was just putting my hand down."

Derek stared Stiles down a little longer before roughly flipping the teen over and yanking him up by his hoodie. Stiles let out a startled shout and began to struggle. A warning growl from the Alpha quickly put a stop to that and the teen allowed himself to be carried off into another part of the loft.

Stiles was actually surprised when Derek laid him down on a pile of old blankets and then walked away and curled up on the floor a little ways away. Once the wolf was completely settled, Stiles cautiously laid down, making each move slow and hesitant – watching for any signs of attack from Derek.

Once the teen was laying, he made a small pillow out of some of the blankets and pulled one over him. He could feel fatigue starting to wash over him, but being stared down by an Alpha werewolf wasn't exactly comforting, especially if it was angry. He carefully looked into Derek's eyes and looked at the eerie red orbs. A gruff sound from Derek made the teen quickly look back down.

Suddenly Stiles felt a warm body pressed against his back and tensed up.

"No matter how angry I am I will never hurt you," came Derek's gruff voice.

"O-Okay," replied Stiles nervously, still afraid to speak.

"I was more angry over the fact that they injured you. But it doesn't help that you went against my orders."

"I-I only wanted to help."

"You almost got yourself killed," growled Derek lowly. Stiles gulped and curled more in on himself. "Do you know what I would do if you died?" Stiles whimpered as Derek rolled him over and touched a bruise on his cheek. "I can't stand to lose you."

Stiles nodded, not knowing what to say. He was still trying to breathe normally again.

"It hurts to look at you and see you bruised, bloody, and swollen. I can't stand the thought of someone hurting you!"

"Well... I'm glad to finally know that the beat up look doesn't look good on me," replied Stiles, falling back on sarcasm again.

The corners of Derek's mouth twitched up. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked, letting out a small laugh.

"I don't know, but some Ibuprofen would be nice."

Derek let out a soft snort. "I'll get you some tomorrow. Just rest now."

Stiles nuzzled his face into Derek's chest and said, "You know, you'll always be my protector."

The Alpha let a small smile spread across his lips. "You definitely keep me well employed."