"Scott, for the last time – can we please just hangout without the smelly dogs?"
"Stiles, I am one of those smelly dogs." Scott rolled his eyes for the millionth time.
"Yeah, but you are slightly less smelly."
"What's not to like about them? They've saved our lives plenty."
"Oh, Idunno, maybe the fact that none of them control their changing!"
"Derek and I both can."
"Okay, so when the other three start growing facial hair and their eyes change color and the fangs start coming out, I'll just trust that the two of you can stop them from tearing my throat out?!"
"Peter will be there too, Stiles."
I glared at him. "Really, the creepy guy who bit Lydia? I'm supposed to feel safe that he will also be in the small confined spaces of Derek's dark loft?"
Scott just laughed. "Peter's not all that bad. There's a lot to learn from him."
"Okay, like how to bite some beautiful, young, totally not aware of all things werewolf and then control them to bring yourself back to life?"
He laughed again. "If it had been anyone but Lydia you would think it was totally awesome."
I rolled my eyes this time.

I pulled the jeep up to the front of the building.
"Honestly, Stiles, I think you'd really like them if you got to know them."
"I also really like eating pizza and playing my Xbox all day, but instead you are making me hang out with a bunch of smelly dogs."
He laughed and jumped out of the jeep. I followed him begrudgingly up to the loft. Scott pulled a key out of his pocket and started to unlock the door.
"Are you kidding? You have a key to his loft?"
Scott shrugged, holding the door closed. "It's our safe-place. If there's trouble we meet up here."
As we walked in I rolled my eyes. "Why is the door even locked when the place is packed full of "
"A bunch of smelly dogs?" Isaac interrupted, a small smile on his face.
I could feel the pink rising in my cheeks.
Erica laughed. "Along with the facial hair - which, by the way not all of us suffer from - and the eyes and teeth, we also have exceptional hearing. Did you forget that part?"
"What I forgot," I said, collapsing onto a leather sofa. "Was that my best friend now hangs out with people who all want to rip my throat out once a month and have absolutely no sense of privacy!"
"We haven't breached your privacy," Boyd said from across from me.
"Yeah, you have!"
Derek sighed, finally speaking up. He was in the kitchen making something that smelled slightly delicious. "When was that, Stiles?"
"OH, I dont know! Maybe yesterday when we walked in here and the first thing Isaac said was 'Hey Scott, congrats on having sex with Allison this morning.'"
Isaac and Boyd high fived, both of them laughing.
"What does that have to do with your privacy?" Derek said, arching his eyebrows.
"The privacy of my mind!" I exclaimed. "Of not wanting to know when he has sex!"
Derek rolled his eyes and went back to cooking. Scott was grinning toothily.
"Hey, it's not my fault he didn't even try to wash the scent off," Isaac said, laughing loudly.
I rolled my eyes.
Boyd turned on the tv, still laughing. Derek walked over, holding a tray of buffalo wings. "Feet. Off. My. Couch." He growled at me.
I sighed but sat up, feet on the ground.
"What kind of meat, Derek? Don't want to be eating some rabbit you caught in the woods last night." I asked, picking up a buffalo wing and inspecting it.
He galred at me.
Scott laughed. "Just eat it, Stiles." He picked one up and threw it in his mouth.
He bit down the same second that Derek said, "There's bones, Scott." Scott was spitting half chewed bits of meat and bones into his hands. Derek rolled his eyes, again.

We spent the day 'hanging out' as Scott called it. The wolves ate constantly, worked out in between while Stiles, the only human, sat on the couch and watched one of the four channels Derek's crappy tv got.
At the moment, Scott and Isaac were wrestling. It was hard to tell who was winning at this point. Scott was on top of Isaac, but Isaac had his hands in prime position for some serious crotch pain. Isaac took the shot, sending Scott rolling off him, howling (not literally, thank god) in pain.
Boyd and Erica were laughing. Derek's face was still stone-cold expressionless. As always. Joy-kill.
"That was a cheap shot, dumb ass!" Scott yelled, sitting up slowly.
Isaac just laughed. "Hey, pack bonding works as pack training too, right Derek?"
Derek just nodded.
"If you're fighting something and leave yourself open for a shot like that, sure as hell they'll take it!"
Scott stood up. I wonder if wolf healing worked with those type of blows as well.
I sighed heavily. This was not the summer I was picturing. I had been picturing a summer of beautiful ladies and cheap dates that ended with great make-out sessions. Three weeks into the summer and I've spent every day at Derek's stupid loft.
"If you're so bored, why don't you leave?" Derek said without looking at me.
"Who said anything about me being bored?"
"I can smell it, Stiles. Unless the strong scent of boredom and hatred is eminating from someone else in the room?"
I am so sick of this. This stupid smelling and hearing and knowing everything. "You can smell the hatred too?"
He nodded.
"Can you tell that it's directed at you and Peter?"
Derek sighed.
From the kitchen, Peter growled. "Why am I included in this?"
"Oh, maybe because you're the one that bit Scott in the first place!" I yelled. "And if it weren't for you coming back to life, Derek wouldn't be making Scott come here everyday, ultimately wasting my summer!"
"No one is making you or Scott come, Stiles." Isaac growled. His eyes flashed yellow.
"Hey, calm down, wolfboy." I said, rolling my eyes. Isaac growled again, stepping closer.
Derek stepped in between us. "Okay, enough. Stiles, no one is making you stay."
"Fine, we'll leave then." I said, pushing past Derek to get to the door. I turned around when I didn't hear Scott behind me. "Are you coming?"
He hesitated.
"Seriously, Scott?"
"I think pack bonding is a great idea..."
I shook my head. "Whatever."
I made sure to slam the door as hard as I could.

Being the sneaky little bastard that I am, though, I leaned against the wall and listened closely.

"He is such a wuss," Isaac was saying. "He complains constantly and his feelings are always everywhere."
"He's not that bad," Scott said. Oh, thanks Scott. I'm 'not that bad'. Way to defend your best friend.
"He's awful," Peter drawled. "His sarcasm and attitude really wears me down."
Scott was silent this time.
"Not to mention he won't stop looking at my chest," Erica added. That is not even true! And if it were, that problem could easily be fixed by her wearing shirts that fit her!
"Enough," Derek said, surprisng me. "He was thrown into a world he didn't know existed. We're lucky that he doesn't run and tell everyone what we are. He lies to his father constantly and puts himself in danger. Respect him."
The room was silent.
I walked away. Half feeling good about myself, half angry that Derek, who I hated - and who hated me - had better defense for me than my supposed best friend.

When I got home, Dad was already at work. There was a note on the counter telling me he was working the night shift and to call him when I got home.
I went up stairs and collapsed onto my bed then dialed his number. He answered on the third ring. "You're home earlier than I thought," he said.
"Yeah, Scott had other plans." I said sourly.
"Aw, put on the shelf for the girlfriend?"
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, pretty much." The pack had become his girlfriend.
"All right, son. There's leftovers in the fridge. Call if you go out again."
"Yeah, okay." I said.
"Okay," He said.
"Stay safe tonight, dad."
He grunted in response then hung up.

Good talk, dad.

My original plan had been to jerk off to bad porn then play Xbox into the night, but I ended falling asleep right there.

I woke up as the sun made its way into my room through the open blinds. I rolled over, realizing I hadn't even undressed last night. Classy, Stiles. Shoes still on and everything.

I checked my phone - three missed calls from Scott and one text that simply read, "Call me."
I stretched and yawned before getting out of bed. I took a quick shower and then went downstairs. It wasn't until I was halfway through making myself what was going to be the best damn omelette I've ever eaten that I called Scott.

"Hey man, what's up?"
"Nothing," I said, "I'm making breakfast."
"Why'd you ignore me last night?"
"I fell asleep. What'd you need?"
He was quiet for a bit. "Oh. Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out."
"No, I don't want to hang out with the pack."
"Stiles, they're really not that bad." Oh look, he uses the same phrase to describe me, his friend since kindegarten, that he uses to describe the mutts.
"Yeah, well, I have plans today."
"You do?" He asked. I could imagine perfectly the confused face he was making right now.
"Yeah, I do." That was a lie. "As a matter of fact, I have plans tomorrow too. So don't call then either."
"God, Stiles. Are you man pms-ing?"
I hung up. I hadn't realized how angry I had been at him until now. I was so sick of pack bonding.

After eating, watching tv, and playing Xbox for five hours, I was dead bored. I sighed as I pushed myself lazily off the couch and decided to go for a run. In junior high, I had been on the track team. I was a decent long distance runner then, maybe some of that could take my time up this summer.

After changing and locking the house up, I started my run. It started out on sidewalks and I ended up at some point turning into the woods. The woods weren't so bad once you knew that the worst things out there were actually your friends.

I must have been running for an hour before I started to get tired. I slowed down and walked for fifteen minutes before stopping and sitting on a tree trunk for a rest.
I sat there for five minutes, my music playing loudly before I started to feel like I was being watched. I pulled my earbuds out and looked around but I didn't see anything.
I heard the cracking of sticks under feet after a couple more seconds. "Scott, this isn't funny," I called out. "Or whichever one of you it is."
There was no answer. I rolled my eyes as I heard a low growl behind me. "Seriously, guys. Just cause I didn't want to hang out today doesn't mean you stalk me into the woods and practice hunting."
Still no answer. I sighed and stood up. I stretched a bit before starting to jog again.
"Going so soon?" A raspy voice asked.
I jerked around. A man I had never seen before was standing a few feet off the path. I could feel my heart beating faster. "Who are you?"
He walked closer. I stepped back. He was oddly threatening. Maybe that was cause he creeped behind me in the woods for two miles.
He just smiled. "What are you doing out here? Hasn't anyone told you the woods are full of dangerous creatures?"
"Nope," I said, trying to sound as brave as I could.
"Oh, really? Well, it's true." He stepped closer to me. I backed myself into a tree.
Thank God my phone rang. "Oh, sorry, I gotta take this." I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I didn't stop watching his eyes.
It was Scott.
"Hey, man. Sorry about earlier," I said.
"No, you were right. I should spend some time with just you."
"Yeah, you should," I said.
He laughed. "Xbox and pizza at your place?"
"Sounds great, I'll be home real soon."
"Where are you?"
"In the woods," I said. The man's eyebrows raised. "About two miles down the trail that is a mile from my house."
The man smiled slightly.
"Okay, that was oddly specific."
"Never know what kind of information you might need." The man was glaring at me now.
He was silent for a bit. "Stiles, are you in trouble?"
"Nah, just letting you know."
He just laughed and hung up.

I slipped my phone into my pocket, still looking the man in the eye. "Did you need something?"
He laughed quietly. "No, Stiles, I didn't. I'll be on my way now."

He turned and left.
How the hell does this creep know my name? I watched him until I couldn't anymore. Then I started running down the trail again. For some reason, I made the decision not to tell Scott what just happened.