"Okay, Stiles it's later. Can you explain things now?" Malia said, standing assertively. Despite Malia being in her human form, she still possessed a coyote's demeanor. She always stood with her feet planted and her shoulders back. Rather it was intended or not, she always gave off the impression that she was in charge.
"Explain what?" Stiles asked, avoiding Malia's intense gaze.
"Stiles. I can smell your anxiety. What is going on here? Who's Allison? And Kate?"
"We already answered those on the way to Mexico. What else do you want to know?" Stiles said, wincing at the casual way she said Allison's name. He had hoped he wouldn't have to be the one to get into this with Malia. But, who else would? She was more attached to him than any other pack member.
"You know who Allison is…" he mumbled. Allison's memory and his part in her death were still fresh in his mind. He didn't think he would ever be able to let go of it and discussing it wasn't easy.
"All I know is what I've been told. And that's not much. I know that she helped save me from my dad a few months ago. I know she was a hunter. I know she's dead."
"Wow, Malia, you've really got to work on how blunt you are!" Stiles said with a laugh that hurt his heart.
"Sorry…" Malia said attempting a softened expression. "I just…I want to understand what's going on. If I'm going to be a part of this pack then I need to be filled in on what's important. From what I've gathered, Allison and her Aunt were important."
Stiles sighed and sat down on his bed. It was late, they had just gotten back from Mexico, things were already getting out of hand in Beacon Hills, yet again, and he had never felt more like sleeping and forgetting everything. Except he couldn't. All his worries crept into his dreams leaving him in cold sweats when he woke up.
Malia moved to sit close to him on the bed, taking his hand in hers. He felt comforted by the contact and smiled at her. "You're right," Stiles conceded, "If we want your help, it's only fair that we fill you in on some things.
"Alright…so, where do I begin? Um…okay, we'll start with Allison. Allison was Scott's girlfriend. Not at the time of her death though… Oh, this just sounding confusing… Alright. Last year, Allison and her family moved here. They used to live here before Allison was born, but they moved back last year, presumably because they heard that there were werewolves in the area again: the Hale family. They were a pack of wolves that lived here and protected Beacon Hills. The Argent family felt that it was also their job to protect the people in Beacon Hills. They both wanted to kind of maintain a balance, I guess. There were plenty of disputes though…"
"Okay. So two families, rivals, protecting Beacon Hills," Malia summarized, "got it."
"Right. So…so, following some other events that we won't get into just yet, uh, Allison's aunt, Kate Argent, killed the entire Hale family. She burned their house to the ground, killing everyone inside. Only Peter Hale survived, unfortunately. But, don't worry about him, okay? He's a psycho. Just stay really far away from him. Okay?"
"Okay…enough about Peter, Stiles. You were talking about Kate." Malia moved so that her legs were folded beneath her and fixed Stiles with an intent gaze. He could tell that she was listening carefully and trying to make sure she was keeping up with what he was telling her. He smiled affectionately and moved to get comfortable and face her.
"Okay, so Peter survived and of course, Derek and his sisters Cora and Laura. Laura was killed by Peter, Peter was killed by Derek, then Peter came back to life using Lydia's banshee powers and Cora surprised everyone by showing up in Beacon Hills after hiding in South America for six years or so. Um…not important right now though…Anyways, before all of that Peter decided to take revenge on Kate, killing a lot of innocent people along the way. Then he killed Kate. Scott and I watched the funeral. We saw her coffin put into the ground. But, somehow she's not dead…we're still working on that, obviously."
Stiles fell silent unsure of what else to say. He didn't really want to get into every detail of the past year. He especially wanted to avoid anything involving a lot of Peter; Malia had no idea who her real father was. The guilt of keeping the secret was starting to really get to him, but he'd worry about that another day.
"So, Kate Argent is back to what…take revenge on Peter?" Malia inquired.
"She's here for something, that's for sure. Kate was already pretty insane. Her being a were-something can only add to that." Stiles was sure that there would be plenty of Kate related problems in their future. Did Kate know about Allison's death? He didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to think about anything heavy right now.
Malia laid back on the bed, tugging on Stiles' arm to pull him down with her. They laid side by side facing each other, Malia wrapping her arms around Stiles and snuggling close to him. She sighed and asked a final question: "Stiles, what was Allison like?"
Stiles nestled into Malia and rested his forehead against hers before speaking. "She was…a very strong person. She was smart and spirited and she was a very important part of our lives. She was Scott's first serious girlfriend and he loved her very much. She was Lydia's best friend. Allison was one of the bravest people I've ever met. She did anything and everything she could to help protect the people she loved. She died protecting us." At this point Stiles had to stop speaking. His throat felt tight and his chest ached in a panicky way. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply to try and calm himself.
"Why does Scott miss Allison so much if he has a new mate?" Malia asked, her brow furrowing. Stiles grinned at her use of the word 'mate.'
"Well, Kira means a lot to Scott. He likes her a lot, but Allison was very special to him. Just because they weren't dating when she died doesn't mean that they didn't still care about each other."
"How could he love Allison, but still be loyal to Kira?"
"Well, people can love more than one person at the same time." An unbidden image of Lydia flashed through Stiles' mind and he felt a surge of guilt. He shook it off and continued saying, "Although they weren't in a romantic relationship, Scott and Allison were still friends and cared about each other a lot. They always will."
"Hmmm." Malia looked lost in thought.
"You okay?" Stiles asked her.
"Yeah. Just thinking." Malia responded, then she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. "I would never care for anyone else as much as I care for you, Stiles. Not at the same time, at least."
Stiles laughed and returned the gesture saying, "Alright, coyote. We should probably get some sleep." The wide yawn that followed his words served to confirm them. The tightness in his chest was still there and he felt a bit melancholy. There were nights when Stiles felt as though he would never be able to push away the past. On nights like those, Malia would stay with him, curling her body around his as much as she could, shielding him from the outside world like a coyote with a pup. Rather than going straight to sleep, Stiles laid awake, waiting for the front door to open and to hear the familiar sound of his dad's footsteps as he came upstairs to check on him. Some nights he would sit with Stiles and talk to him, but tonight, Stiles felt that he had spoken enough. He only wanted to know that his dad was safe before he and Malia fell asleep.