Peter Hale told him a secret.

It's a gift.

His fingers had rubbed over the pulse point on his wrist keeping track of truth and fiction. He wonders how life would have been different tied to Peter Hale, what it would have felt like when he died.

{If he died. With Stiles by his side he probably would have killed Kate and maybe Chris. He would've taken Derek and Scott under his wing. Stiles would be at his right hand.}

Stiles knows something he didn't then. What it feels like to have Derek Hale pressing down on him with the entirety of his smooth pale body, how to respond passively when the beast needs to take, the feel of teeth - too sharp and wild to be human pressing into the soft flesh of his wrist.

He learns the hardest lesson, that he will never be a wolf no matter how much it howls in his veins.

He discovers he will always run with the pack, because they need him like the stern hand of their leader. He discovers that if he bites the alpha he'll submit, red-eyes flashing and fading and an almost inaudible whimper in the beast's throat. He discovers how to set fire to the world because all it needed was a spark to burn.

He shows his own grace and rests on his haunches like a bird, frustrating his animal of a lover as he flits easily away. He shows his scars and wears them on his skin like he had earned them, like they were the medals on his coat. He shows his own authority with soft sweeps of his hand and brushes with his thumb over steady pulse points.

His blood runs between ash and fire, embers burning like coal and the hot press of his lover. His body fluctuates between submission and dominance, decided by how broken and shattered his mind is, by how fast he talks and how heavy is his silence. His eyes show nothing and everything depending on who you ask.

He becomes the balance to Derek's weight. He becomes sharp smiles and wolfish grins. He becomes elegant movements that speak of supernatural grace.

His dad doesn't recognize the boy he's hugging. His thicker than blood brother cowers under his eyes. His first love watches him with the wary eyes she watched Peter Hale.

And Derek?

Derek has sharp teeth and a chiseled body. Derek pushes him into sheets and is always, always threatening. Derek leaves him broken and the favor is easily returned.

Stiles is a different person when he easily brings Peter to his grave for the second time. He is a different person when he threaten Chris Argent until him and his daughter run. He is a different person when he allows Derek to bite into him again and again even though he'll never turn.

He is stronger person.

And depending on who you ask, he is a better person.