There was a time when Derek Hale could honestly and without artifice say he was happy. A time when the very simple act of breathing, didn't burn at his bones and when the very thought of a smile didn't leave lead in his gut.

For a while he had thought Kate was The One --stupid, foolish boy who never listened to his wolf- she was beautiful like an ancient marble statue created by masters. Now he knows she was really a venus fly trap, a beast lying in wait for the perfect moment to strike at his very heart -God, little Becca. She was only two, a baby. And completely human, fragile like a bird.-

They were all torn from him and now he has left is the ash in his mouth and the hollowed building that was once their home but is now a tomb. An empty and grisly reminder of his mistake, there are days when he feels like he was the one who lit the blaze.

All of that was bad enough. But then Laura --Beautiful, smart Laura. Laura who was going to be a big shot artist, have everything she deserved.- All of a sudden she was gone and he was left with a newly bitten wolf who didn't want to listen to a goddamn thing he said and his twitchy, overly excitable friend -Whose mere scent drove him to distraction with need and feelings he never thought he'd have again, feelings he shouldn't be having for an innocent sixteen year old pup -

Then finding out about Peter--Funny, prankster Uncle Peter, the Fred to his George, the only person he trusted more than his Father and Laura.- and wasn't that just twisting the silver knife in more.

Then he was Alpha, and he hated it. Hated that it happened this way when it was meant for Laura. For her because she was oldest, --the rightful heir to the throne she'd laugh-, the one who trained for it. All this power and he can't do shit about anything. He can't bring back his family, he can't go back in time and be able to express his feelings to Stiles. Stiles who makes his wolf whimper and strain to be near him. To touch him, make him shake with want and shiver with so much pleasure it drives him mad. He wants to break him apart and fill his empty spaces so that they would be one, true mates.

But now in the years after everything, he has somehow found a reason to smile again. His beautiful Stiles somehow wormed his way into his heart and yelled him into submission. Now they were mated, and Stiles had become his God given solace, they also had the Pack --Scott, Erica, Boyd, Jackson, Danny, and sweet Isaac, even Sheriff Stilinski and somehow miraculously he had his old Uncle Peter back-

Everything was beautiful and sunny and perfect again. And he could smile.