Author's note - this is a continuation of my previous fic, Lunar Ellipse, which you can find here:
s/9619312/1/Lunar-Ellipse
I've tried to include enough references so the story can be understood without reading it but it certainly helps. Thanks!
Stiles was still in the hospital, still too weak to go back to school but not too much to impede him ordering them around in his extremely loud and apparently too-fast-for-this-world babbling. They were all too had to see him better so they complied. Even Lydia - that was a first. The afternoon washed away into the evening and before they realized visiting Stiles had become a sleepover in the hospital and then Ms. McCall was helping the Sheriff to gather enough food for all of them and then Allison's father was there as well and the room had somehow morphed into a pack den. At Stiles behest, they even called Deaton to come to their meeting. The first meeting they had since the eclipse.
The first one they had as a pack.
-Doctor Deaton, could you please come to the hospital? No, we're fine. Yeah, Stiles room. We'll wait for you.
Isaac heard it, the slight shift in Scott's voice when he entered alpha mode. Not as evident as he had to stop him from killing Ethan in front of the whole cross-country team, but there nonetheless, a small siren song that would attract all the members of the pack.
Derek was not there, and neither Cora. They had left a couple days after the events, barely saying goodbye.
He shouldn't worry about them, though. Derek was no longer an alpha, and it had been a while since he had not been his alpha.
But would Scott take him?
The question was eating him alive, from the inside out.
He couldn't help himself. He had no place. Maybe his father had always been right and no one would take him. He started hugging himself, and tried to diminish his presence. Maybe if they ignored him then he would be able to remain there. He didn't mind being overlooked, as long as he wasn't kicked out.
He felt Allison's hand on his shoulder, warmth spreading to her.
-Isaac, are you OK?
Scott's voice was not accusative, or angry. It was concerned, and kind. He looked into his eyes, and couldn't help but feel better. A little.
-Er, well, now that we are all here I guess there's no point in leaving it for later.
-We don't have to talk about it right now, sweetie.
-No, it's better if we do. Let's get done with it so we can leave it behind us.
-Thanks, Allison - Scott sighed. It was hard for him, just like it was for everybody else - so, a couple of days ago, Ms. Blake kidnapped all of you. We assumed -.
-We already know that she wanted to sacrifice us. She was about to bury us alive when you guys intervened.
-Well, see, that's not true. She never meant to sacrifice you. Burying you alive was something she started doing when all her power finally got over her head and she lost sight of her revenge. The actual sacrifice was us.
-What?
-Me, Scott and Allison, Ms. McCall. Apparently we are the guardians of Beacon Hills.
-You have to be kidding.
-I wish we were, dad, but the thing is, we all saw the same thing - the moment when we became the guardians. Scott's bite. We were all there at the beginning.
-You were not there, Allison, we had barely gotten to Beacon Hills that night.
-Exactly. Mom almost killed Scott by running the SUV over him.
-So she could've saved us all this trouble if she... Sorry, I didn't mean to say that.
Everybody assumed it was a joke when he started laughing. Nervously.
Scott, Allison and Stiles kept recounting the events of that couple days, with a bit of input from Lydia and Isaac when required. Their story was too disjointed - Scott focused mostly on Deucalion, Allison on rescuing the parents. Stiles was the most comprehensive one, beginning all the way back when Lydia had almost been garroted by Ms. Blake - back when his dad had been taken.
Even Chris Argent was scared of the way Melissa McCall started growling when Stiles mentioned the FBI agent, Rafael McCall.
When they explained what had the sacrifice meant Mr. Argent looked at Dr. Deaton with murder in his eyes. Most of their discussion turned out to be about the horrors that could come to Beacon Hills, but they were all too tired to talk about it. Besides, there was still one big elephant in the middle of the room.
-Dad, Dr. Deaton, we have something much more important to discuss right now. Scott's pack.
-Right, my pack. Let me begin by saying that I don't know how does this work. I know that when I decided to confront Blake before she would kill Derek, something changed inside me. It was because I wouldn't give up, and I tried so hard that I was able to destroy the mountain ash circle she had trapped me in. I was able to break it - not like when you were dying, Dr. Deaton. What does that mean?
-Well, when I was kidnapped you were not ready yet. But you were on the right pack.
-That's why Deucalion had shifted its sight from Derek to me.
-Yes.
They kept talking, and Isaac couldn't help but feel that they were skirting the main issue, or at least the one issue that truly mattered to him. Who were part of the pack? Until Stiles mentioned that Morrell had called him Scott's emissary.
It was obvious that Stiles was part of the pack.
-Er, guys, I... I need to ask - who are members of the pack?
It was better if he asked. The sooner he was rejected the sooner he could leave.
-Well, all of us, that's why we are here.
-Even me?
-Dude, especially you! You were the one that triggered Scott's transformation. That night, the LAX final? When you decided it was more worth it to stay and fight than to run away?
Him? Isaac was sure Stiles had to be lying. All he had done was trying to help everyone stop the Kanima.
When he told them so Stiles just kept confirming it, and how Deucalion had been there at the game as well he left the room. He couldn't take any more of their lies anymore. He reached the door and was about to run when he heard Scott's voice calling to him.
He knew he couldn't resist it.
-Isaac? Did I say something wrong? What happened?
-No... It's just, gosh, NO. Stop saying that you want me there, stop saying that I'm part of your pack, you and I both know that I am useless, that I don't belong! It's you, and Stiles, and Allison, not me!
Scott just stood there, taking everything in.
-I was nothing when my father wanted to "take care" of me, and then Derek threw me out, and now that you are an alpha you will abandon me so I'd rather you do it now rather than later when it would actually hurt.
He had started crying. He was sobbing. Well, there goes the big bad wolf impression.
He couldn't even pull away from Scott's embrace.
-Isaac, you are pack. You are family. You are part of my family. My mom already has you folding laundry, we share food, and most importantly, I care about you. And you care about me. Stiles thinks that it was when I broke the mountain ash barrier that I became an alpha, but I think that I couldn't have if I hadn't understood that being an alpha didn't mean being a general guiding you guys to war. It means to be the head of a family, and I want all my family to take care of all its members. Including you. That is, if you want to stay.
Isaac let himself get lost in his embrace, in his strength, in his scent. The scent he loved and feared the most. The scent he had become to associate with family.
-Please. I want to stay.
