The first November wind, crisp with autumn, surged through the forest until it made its debut into the clearing that held the town of Beacon Hills. Stiles felt it course through him even with the thick cloak he held close to his body causing a shiver to work its way through him. Usually he wasn't one to get up this early in the morning, at least not early enough to see the sunrise for himself.
"Of all the freaking days to get up this early, it had to be the day winter wanted to show its first asscrack of the season" Stiles cursed to no one in particular but he felt it warm his spirit up at least even as his shivering had only just begun to subside. "Scott could have wanted to meet up in the afternoon in Greenburgs bar but nope, had to go with morning secrecy."
Stiles knew he really couldn't blame his friend for this one, any other time he would be the one instigating it, but last night he had been up late memorizing a possible new tattoo which ended up screwing any last hope of a decent night sleep. If it hadn't been for his dad leaving for work and slamming the door accidently, he probably would have slept right over it until Scott had hunted him down.
Letting a sigh loose, he continued his way down the winding dirt roads made by frequent foot traffic to his destination. Scott it seemed had a flair for dramatics wanting to meet up in the woods instead of at either of their houses or in a public space. It wasn't like anyone was really up, the road mostly empty except for a few who shot him strange looks.
"I knew I should have suggested a better time." Rubbing a hand over his face did little to sooth the itch of eyes on him. Stiles thought, despite how it was too late to do anything about it, this couldn't be a worse time considering people were now going to gossip about this rare occurrence of change.
This being a small settlement it rarely saw its share of action. There were a few stories every once in a while of a will o' wisp trying ensnare a lumberjack or of a weakened vampire being hunted down by the Argents in the region. His favorite was any rumor surrounding the Alpha but that happened as regularly as a harvest moon. All in all there, was very little to keep the populace entertained outside of petty gossip.
Cinching his hood closer to his face, Stiles quickened his pace to the meet up spot. It wasn't long before he saw Scotts familiar face peek into view between the trees waving at him. Way to be conspicuous Scott, though Stiles did end up waving back.
Scotts kind face held a smile but stress attached itself to him in the way of tense muscles and fidgeting. Stiles knew all too well what the stress was from.
"This is about Allison, isn't it?" No one could say Stiles Stilinski wasn't blunt
Scotts silence and sudden break in eye contact was the only answer he needed. Stiles pulled his hood down and stalked over to the closest oak to lean on as he tried to get all his thoughts in order.
Allison wouldn't have had been has big as issue if what had happened a year ago hadn't occurred. It would have been trouble all right though, her being an Argent meant she was an elite member of the countries Hunting Clan. A group that ranged all across the land and hunted anything that wasn't 100% human and was deemed an appropriate threat.
Upon learning that she was the daughter of one of the leaders had made Stiles about have a heart attack.
It would have been difficult for them to be together, but the major issue was what transpired last September.
Beacon Hills was well known for just a few things, they had above average beer and their level of supernatural occurrences was surprisingly low. This all meant that Hunters were rarely needed and the bane of complacency descended on many of the populace and him and Scott were no exception. Stiles himself looked back at his cockiness with disdain thinking his spark would be able to protect him and his friend with whatever trivial supernatural they could have possibly encountered.
All his pride had left him the moment Stiles saw his friend emerge from the brush with his hand clasped to his side as an attempt to staunch the blood pushing its way through his fingers with each beat of his heart. This event earned Scott a one way ticket the world of being an omega werewolf. The only good thing that had come out of it was that they heard later the Hunters had killed the werewolf that had done the act without ever learning about Scott.
The first month was rough with Scott attempting to kill Stiles about three times. One time for apparently peeing too close to where Scott had previously gone. The rest of the year was composed of odd moments interlaced with Scott almost revealing to the entire town his furrier side. If the town thoughts Stiles had developed an increased "accidental" spree of lighting odd objects on fire, well that was the lesser of two evils.
That they could have handled but then Scott had to make the ultimate mistake of thinking with his other head. It was just two months ago that there was a sighting of the Alpha. A local legend, or myth if you listen to certain people, about an huge black wolf that wandered through the forests evading all that wanted to kill it which was majorly trophy hunters and the Hunter Clan. The death toll left in its wake was high but not as high as you would expect it to be from something that powerful.
Whenever there is a credible sighting of it though, a group of Hunters would be sure to show up at the local town that held the source.
Jackson Whitmore, a fellow age mate of Scott and Stiles, was the eye witness reporting he saw it while out in the woods collecting wood. Normally a collected individual with enough ego to float away if he wanted to, the night he came running back into town looked like he had just had a bout of hard stomach sickness.
Sweat clung to every inch of him with a pallor that could rival any ghost that dared show its face. He had told the story as best as he could sucking in breaths like a drowning man coming up for air. This all lead to the a small group of Hunters coming to their town and in that group was a Ms. Allison Argent. Dead eye shot with a bow and cunning to boot if the gossip around her was to be believed though Stiles didn't doubt a word of it.
He had seen her when they road into town on their black horses. She was good looking with wavy brunette hair that would make any of the girls in town jealous. Her armor was well fitted but he could see the wear it had gone through. Her bow was a fixture on her back that looked as if it was another limb from the way she carried herself. His eyes caught hers as the group began to pass by him and Scott who had ventured out to watch the procession before they met with his dad, the towns sheriff.
She had smiled but she was like a cougar walking among lambs. Scott on the other hand let out an audible sigh next to him and raised his hand in a shy wave. Her eyes immediately had darted to his and one of the most genuine smiles had flitted across her features as she raised a hand back.
That small moment lead to him and Scott standing in the woods together with the tension so thick it seemed that the trees were afraid to move.
Scott was the first to break the silence, "I love her you know." His voice was small but the truth of the words strengthened the words.
"You've known her for what, two months?" Stiles retorted back losing some of his patience. He had of course seen the puppy dog eyes he had thrown her way as the Hunters stayed in town but he never would have thought it would lead to him saying those words.
"I don't know how to explain it, it's like a piece was never there all my life and now its there and I don't want to lose it." Scott stood straighter like the trees surrounding them as the sentence went on, almost as if feeding off its resolve.
"Dude, you are seventeen and have fallen for the worst possible person in the world. You do know what you are and what she is or did eating one too many rabbits give you something."
"Maybe its fate?" Scott offered weakly shrugging. "I don't know how else to explain it to you. All I know is how I feel about her isn't going to change"
Stiles ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to compose himself. It had only recently grown out from the buzz cut he had been forced into from one of his more zealous fire distractions This was his best friend and he had spent the last year by his side helping him. He knew he didn't have in it him to stop now.
"Okay, what's the plan?" Scott perked up immediately upon hearing those words. Stiles just noticed his claws had emerged when they started to recede back into his hand. "And it better be a good one because I am not experiencing another plan like the one which ended up with me stuck in a barrel for four hours."
"I'm going to meet up with Allison tonight..." Scott paused, Stiles guessed he was searching for the right words, "I'm, er, going to tell her the truth." Scott tensed up looking down when he finished like he knew the stupidity of his words.
Stiles for the first time in a long time was at a loss for words. Here he came in thinking that Scott simply wanted to try and meet up with Allison again as she passed through the area. But to tell a Hunter that her "boyfriend" was not only not human but a werewolf, one of the main supernatural's they hunted, just seemed insane. Maybe if they had dated longer than two freaking months than maybe it could be done but right now it seemed like a suicide mission.
"So what you are trying to tell me is that you want to tell your capital H, Hunter lady friend that you are a werewolf, for what, shits and giggles?" Stiles stalked over to where Scott was standing, oblivious for once to the dangers of challenging a werewolf head on, and stared at him directly. Only a foot of space separated them and Scott didn't break his gaze. "She will kill you Scott, she will shove an arrow through your heart."
Scott snarled at that and gave him an abrupt shove backwards. "She won't, I know she won't. She only hunts to protect people."
"And if she deems you a threat?"
"I already said she won't, she knows that I wouldn't hurt anyone. Hell, I still can't help put down animals that need to be." Scotts fight in him seeped away as he turned pleading eyes to Stile once more. "I'm coming to you as a friend, I need you on this. I need a watch in case anybody follows her or me."
Stiles could feel himself melt again. Heaving his shoulders up and down dramatically he let loose a great sigh. "Alright, you can be the big ole hero and I'll be in the shadows to help, but I swear if this goes south there is going to be Hell to be paid."
He fixed Scott with a look that he hoped showed what he was getting at. To Scotts credit he nodded curtly with a set jaw to show he did. Stiles finally shot him a grin and with a flair of his cloak he wrapped an arm around his best friends shoulder and gave a hard squeeze.
"We'll figure it out no matter what. We always have, haven't we?" Stiles proclaimed to the forest as well as Scott. "Look at what we've accomplished this year."
Scott reached an arm up and gave him a hearty half embrace in return causing a squeak to escape Stiles mouth as the werewolf strength was displayed. "Couldn't have done it without you. And I know I can't down this alone tonight."
Stiles shoved Scott away and ducked under the feigned punch. "Yeah, yeah I know, I'm just too damn amazing for my own good." Shooting his friend a wide grin, Stiles sat down under a tree and patted the spot next to him. "Now get your butt down here so we can figure out the fine details of this mission impossible."
It took a little while but after the sun had reached its apex in the sky and his and Scotts stomachs were growling, the plan had a firm basis in reality.
"This might actually work, you know except if she ends up trying to kill you." Stiles proclaimed as he stood, stretching out and was rewarded with a multitude of cracks. "But with me in a tree close by we might be able to get your ass out of there in time."
"She won't." Scott stated firmly.
"I hope, for both our sakes, she doesn't."
AN: Decided to post this on this account as well. Can also be found on AO3