Chest heaving, muscles screaming, the wolf fought to stay awake. If not for himself then for his mate. His mate who was currently not here, but in just as much danger even if he were.
He startled when something hard and blunt jabbed him in the abdomen, quickly followed by painful electricity shooting through his veins. His jaw clenched tight, holding back any noise from escaping his throat.
He refused to give her that satisfaction.
The pain left as quickly as it had come, leaving his body numb and shaky.
"Derek," Kate murmured. "Stop fighting. Just tell me where he is and the pain will stop. It's that easy." A growl slipped past his lips as he lifted his head to glare at her. She merely smirked and twirled the electric rod in her hand, slowly pacing back and forth in front of him. "C'mon, sweetie. Do you really want to die for him? So pathetic."
She halted right in front of him and rested her hand on his cheek. The wolf gathered as much strength as he could and snarled, biting at her hand. She jerked it back, unfazed by his actions.
"What's wrong, Alpha?" She sneered, taking a step back. "Don't like my touch anymore? You used to love it."
Derek watched as she used her free hand to turn a dial far too much. In the next instant, he felt the rod slam into his stomach, pain unlike the rest coursing through his body. A roar ripped through his throat, his back arching off the wired fence and muscles tensing up, trying to fight against the pain.
Kate held the rod against him far longer than any other time, seeming gleeful when he sagged heavily after pulling it away.
"Well? Have you changed your mind?"
Derek panted, sweat rolling down his brow. He refused to look at her, closing his eyes instead.
"Fine. I guess I'll just have to go with Plan B." He heard a click and snapped his head up only to be greeted with the barrel of a gun a few inches from his head. "You'll be dead by the time he comes."
He only saw red as he thought of his mate finding him like that. He couldn't allow her to do it, to torture his mate like this. He roared at her, yanking on the cuffs that held him to the fence as hard as he could. But since she'd pumped him full of wolfsbane earlier, his body was weakened and no amount of brute force on his end could get him out of this situation.
All he could think of was his mate. The love of his life. His only reason left to live.
Stiles.
It was quiet. Almost too quiet, but the roar of the engine made that impossible.
Knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel, eyes darting between the rear view mirror and the windshield, Stiles knew his heartbeat was nearly just as loud as the engine for Scott and Isaac. But he didn't care. It was quiet enough for him to focus on driving, to avoid any of his father's deputies that might be out this late at night, and Derek.
He pulled his bottom lip into his mouth and bit down on it, his nerves frayed.
Scott must've gotten tired of his friend smelling so sour with anxiety and fear when the werewolf suddenly turned to him. "We'll find him."
"You don't know that," Stiles snapped, unable to stop himself. "This is Kate we're talking about. The psychotic bitch who nearly ruined all our lives and clearly ruined Derek's. They could be anywhere."
"Yeah, but that's why you have us," Scott replied. "You have the whole pack trying to track them down. And they can't be too far. He's only been missing for-"
"I know how long he's been missing, Scott! I'm the one that found out he was gone in the first place, remember?!"
The passengers in the jeep went silent. Stiles would normally feel bad about yelling at his best friend, but he didn't. He couldn't deal with Scott trying to be optimistic right now. It was nice of him, it really was, but they needed to be logical.
"I've got nothing," Isaac said softly from the back, leaning away from the open window.
"It's okay," Allison assured, resting her hand on the boy's arm. "Scott's right. We will find him. It may just take a little longer than we thought."
Stiles slammed his fist on the steering wheel, barley keeping his eyes on the road. "Dammit! This is my mate we're talking about! Can you all start taking this a little more seriously?!"
"We are," Scott argued, a hint of frustration in his voice.
"No, you're not! You're all acting like trying to find Derek is an every day thing! None of you are taking this as seriously as I am because if we lose him, I'll be the only one truly suffering! You will all move on with your lives while I'm stuck mourning him for the rest of my life!"
The other teens were shocked into silence for a few moments as the human breathed heavily, trying to calm himself down.
"Stiles, we didn't-"
"You didn't know. None of you did. 'Cause you're all wrapped up in your own worlds while I'm the one that's working my ass off to find Derek. I-I-Shit!"
Stiles slammed on the brakes, threw the jeep into park and jumped out of the vehicle as his chest tightened, his breathing getting shallower. He gripped his shirt, tears filling his eyes as he fell to his knees.
He heard his name being yelled, footsteps all around him, but he couldn't focus, couldn't breathe. His heartbeat pumped loudly in his ears, his vision slowly going black. He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to calm himself down, forcing his thoughts on Derek rather than the current situation. It took him a few moments, but he finally calmed down, the mental images of his mate helping immensely.
"Stiles?"
He wiped his eyes using the back of his sleeve and stood up.
"We need to find Derek," his voice held a finality in it that had the other teens looking amongst each other nervously. "No more driving around aimlessly, no more waiting for a scent to pop up. We're going to find him and we're going to find him now."
He closed his eyes, focusing on the warmth in his chest. Part of it was the bond he had with Derek and the other part was his spark. He focused on both, letting the warmth surge through his veins. Inhaling deeply, he felt the warmth move quicker, filling every inch of his body. He focused his mind on his alpha, his mate, his lover.
A moment later, his eyes snapped open. Everything was brighter than before, his packmates auras shining around them. A light pulse pulled his attention to the other side of the forest. He focused in on it and could barely see two auras far off in the distance.
"This way." He ran off not a second later, barely catching Isaac's comment, "So freaking cool."
He could feel the others running after him and he quickly upped his speed. He knew it was Derek. It had to be.
They finally got close enough a few moments later where he could clearly see Derek's red aura, but also a dark purple one in front of his. Squinting, he tried to make out what was happening as he slowed to a stop. But before he could, a sharp pain bloomed in his skull and he dropped to the forest floor, gripping his head.
"Stiles!" Allison knelt down beside him, hand reached out yet not quite touching.
Stiles stayed in that position for a moment longer then snapped his head up. "Derek!" A second later, Lydia's scream echoed off the branches above and the young human boy took off in a sprint, his gaze solely focused on his mate's fading aura.
"Derek!"
Gunsmoke filled the wolf's nostrils and he cringed, the ringing in his ears not helping in the least.
All he saw was black. A second later, the smell dissipated and the ringing slowly died down. He tried to remember what happened, what caused this, but his thoughts were sluggish. He couldn't focus. He felt so weak; he just wanted to rest.
The thought of resting pleased him, but his wolf was somehow restless. It fought against the blackness, against his will. It irritated him - he just wanted to rest - and then he heard it.
"Derek!"
Stiles.
His thoughts suddenly came racing back and he fought with his wolf against the blackness, against the sleep that tore at him.
His mate was here. His mate came for him. But there was one thought that broke through the rest: his mate was in danger.
A/N: So this was just a little something that came about when I was bored and wanted to write a Sterek thing. It's only my second Sterek oneshot/fic, but I hope you enjoyed it!
I'm thinking of writing another chapter...Idk, thoughts?
Thanks so much for reading!