Pack Dynamics

Another wolf pack shows up in Beacon Hills, trying to disrupt the calm the Beacon Hills wolves have managed to gain. Stiles does his first job as an emissary and Scott claims every wolf, and human, as his pack - even the alpha twins. His claim will be put to the test when new creatures show up in town unlike anything they've faced before, and they don't care whose pack you belong to.

...

...

Walking through the woods with Scott was normal for Stiles. Having Isaac, Ethan, Aiden, Lydia, and Allison in tow was a bit more unusual. Still, that was how Stiles was spending his evening. It had only been a few days since Beacon Hills was attacked by giant cat creatures and Danny was nearly killed, but that didn't stop a new threat from coming to town. Of course it didn't. That was how Beacon Hills worked. There was always something supernatural just around the corner, all you had to do was look in the right spot and you would see it.

That night, the threat of the week was a second wolf pack. They had approached Isaac in town and requested this midnight meet up. And as the trees thinned out and a clearing appeared, Stiles saw the visiting pack standing in the light of the half moon.

A woman with skin the color of pure honey stood in the middle of the pack and one step in front, her eyes already glowing red to signify she was the alpha. Two raven skinned men stood on either side of her, one with long dreadlocks and the other with short curly hair. Also in the pack was a fair skinned teen, a pasty older gentleman, an olive toned young male with a buzz cut to rival what Stiles used to wear, and a woman with slanted eyes and her hair in a high ponytail.

Seven on seven, Stiles noted. Not quite an even fight unless some of the new pack were humans too, but it was probably the best odds they could have hoped for in case of a fight.

With about twenty feet between the new pack and the wolves of Beacon Hills, everyone stopped walking except for Stiles and Scott - the alpha and the emissary. The alien alpha and the man with the dreads moved forward to meet them in the middle - the alpha and second of the unfamiliar pack. It was exactly how Stiles had pictured it going, thanks to Deaton's constant repetition of that Rudyard Kipling poem.

'When pack meets with pack in the jungle, and neither will go from the trail, Lie down till the leaders have spoken; it may be fair words shall prevail.'

While it was creepy that his life was mirroring a poem about the wild animals of India - probably symbolic of some part of the British colonization of the Indian country and its peoples - Stiles couldn't help but hope that 'fair words' would prevail tonight instead of fists and fangs.

"What are you doing in Beacon Hills?" Scott asked, assertive but not aggressive.

The woman shrugged without a care. "The land is appealing."

Scott let his eyes glow red as well. "This territory is already claimed."

"By whom?" she asked, her voice just too filled with intent to come across as innocently curious. "The Hale pack no longer has an alpha and the last members of its pack have left the area."

"By me and my pack," Scott claimed, motioning behind him to the others and placing a hand on Stiles' shoulder.

The dark skinned man scoffed, his eyes drifting over the group behind Scott and Stiles. "A pack made of three humans, one beta, and three alphas," he noted, his voice so deep it was like listening to a sub woofer. "Your pack is a joke."

Ethan, Aiden, and Isaac gave warning growls. Without turning around, Stiles knew they were flashing their eyes at the enemy, mainly because the other pack responded in kind. The guy with the buzz cut didn't growl or flash his eyes, just glared. One human in the pack.

"They all submit to me," Scott declared. "I am their alpha and they are my pack; human, alpha, or beta. It doesn't matter. Don't insult them or me."

The woman held up her left hand and all of her wolves stopped posturing immediately. Without Scott doing anything, the wolves on their side did the same. She smirked, an upward tilt of her lips that showed the barest hint of a sharp canine, and let out a considering noise.

"Well, if this land is claimed by a suitable pack," someone strong enough to protect that claim, Stiles gathered, "then the Namir pack will leave it and the pack in peace." For a moment, Stiles felt the tension leave the clearing. "However, I'm not sure that your mismatched pack is suitable." A clear threat.

Scott's shoulders tensed and his lips pulled back in the beginnings of a snarl. That's when Stiles held up his hands, drawing attention to him and stopping a fight before it could break out.

"Hey," he said loudly. "I've got a great idea. The Namir pack backs the hell off," he said with a pointed nod toward the woman and her pack. "They observe but don't interfere, and they see firsthand that the true pack of Beacon Hills has everything under control. No blood shed or egos bruised. Sound like a plan to you? Cause it sounds like a great plan to me."

The woman stared at Stiles for a long moment, long enough that he started to get nervous. Stiles did his best to keep his heart rate steady and sure but he was certain it was still too fast to be calm.

A nod. "Of course," she agreed, her tone slick like Peter's. "I look forward to seeing how such an unusual pack handles itself."

After that, the meeting tapered off. The foreign wolves introduced themselves - Jasmeen, with Jordan as her second and Zion his childhood friend, then Harriet, Justin the old man, Matteo, and Yukina. Scott's pack returned the favor of introductions, Stiles called the meeting to a close and wished everyone lovely dreams of moonlight and raw meat, and then both packs disappeared back into the woods to wherever their members were staying for the night. All in all, it was a good, calm meeting.

'Fair words' indeed.

...

...

It was Isaac's turn to do the grocery shopping while Melissa was at work, so he took the family car and drove to the store while Scott checked in with the rest of the pack for sightings of the invading pack. He had barely finished locking the doors after parking in a spot semi-close to the doors when suddenly he was being approached by two members of said pack.

Isaac crouched, just a bit, and gave his words a growl when he asked, "What are you doing here?"

It was Matteo and Yukina. A human and a beta. If they wanted a fight, Isaac could probably take them. Instead of responding to the aggression in kind, both Matteo and Yukina stopped walking several feet away and held up their hands.

"We just wanted to talk," Yukina assured him, "in a less tense location."

Isaac didn't relax. They had planned this meeting, probably followed him all the way from Scott's house. They wanted to get at him when none of the alphas or hunters were around. "Talk about what?"

The two shared a look, then Yukina placed her hands behind her back and stepped back once, giving Matteo the metaphorical floor.

"On behalf of our alpha, Jasmeen Namir, we wanted to offer you a place in the Namir pack," he said. Isaac recoiled and Matteo nodded as if he understood.

"I have a pack," Isaac said, his voice sounding defensive even to his own ears.

Yukina nodded. "Yes, we know. And of course we're not asking you to abandon them."

That hit closer than she had probably meant it to. Isaac had accepted the bite from Derek but had abandoned him for Scott soon after. It wouldn't be the first time he let his alpha down.

"But Isaac," Matteo picked up again, "we saw your pack. You're the only beta, surrounded by humans and alphas. You're set apart from the others. I know how that feels, being the only human in my pack. It's not fun, being weaker than your packmates."

Isaac frowned. He was weaker than the twins and Scott, sure, but being with them also made him stronger than he would be on his own. Would joining the other pack weaken him, since there would be less alpha strength, or strengthen him since there were less humans?

"In our pack, you would be a beta, like me, like all of us except for Jasmeen and Matteo," Yukina pressed with a cute smile that made Isaac's pulse quicken for a moment. She obviously heard it because her smile grew. "You would be an equal in our pack. You wouldn't have to stand in the shadow of your alpha, of any alpha."

Now Isaac stood tall and looked down his nose at them. "I don't care if I'm standing in Scott's shadow," he declared softly. "He's a good alpha, and a good person. He deserves everything he's got."

Something about him - his heartbeat or his stance or something - made Yukina's cute smile shift into something more predatory, more fitting for an apex predator. "You may not mind his leadership, but isn't there something he won't let you have?"

Isaac's mind immediately jumped to Allison, how no matter what, she and Scott always got back together. Even when they were broken up, they were always thinking about one another and pining for one another. Isaac couldn't get a foot in anywhere.

"If Scott weren't the alpha," she continued slowly, "then maybe you could have what you wanted, and more."

...

...

"...ac...saac...Isaac!"

Isaac jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder and flipped around to see - Allison. He took a deep breath and forced his claws to retract, thankful that nothing more noticeable than that had happened. Allison's lips were curling down at the corners and her eyebrows were pulling toward the center. She was worried.

"Sorry. Sorry," Isaac apologized. "I didn't hear you come up behind me."

"Didn't hear-" the hunter cut off abruptly, gazing at him in confusion.

He cleared his throat with a shake of his head, trying to dislodge the conversation he'd had with Matteo and Yukina from his mind. "Did you need something?"

Allison gave him a piercing once over before visibly deciding to back off, which Isaac was glad about. He was so wound up from yesterday that he would probably end up blurting everything out to Allison before he'd finished processing and deciding anything himself.

She shook her head. "You were looking kind of upset. Are you alright?"

Isaac let out a huff of breath and did his best to smile. "I'm fine. But, thanks. For asking."

It was obvious Allison didn't believe him. She didn't need werewolf senses to catch the lie or to read him like a book. Isaac's pulse sped up, worried about what exactly she was reading off him. Did she know that he'd been approached about joining the Namir pack?

"Are you worried about the Namir pack?" Allison asked, and Isaac shut his locker with perhaps a bit more force than necessary. She frowned and Isaac looked anywhere but at her. "I'm sure everything'll be fine, Isaac. And if not, Scott is a strong alpha with a strong pack, Stiles has his...magic...stuff, and my dad and I are hunters. We'll be fine."

Isaac let out a single laugh. "If Derek were here, we would probably already be fighting," he admitted. "Even with all the 'preparing' he gave to me, Erica, and Boyd, we didn't stand a chance against the alpha pack."

Now Allison smiled. "No, not really. But hey, we got two new pack members out of the deal, strong ones too. Maybe Scott'll just convince the Namir pack to join up and we won't have to fight."

She was joking, trying to lift his spirits, but Isaac barely heard her. Two alphas had ditched their pack to follow Scott. Isaac had ditched Derek to follow Scott. If Isaac, Boyd, and Erica had remained Derek's pack, would things have gone so terribly with the alpha pack? If Isaac hadn't abandoned his alpha...He'd already left one pack, what did that say about him - as a man? as a wolf?

Allison called his name as he hurriedly walked away but Isaac just walked faster. He didn't even go to class, instead ditching school campus altogether. He couldn't be there right now, surrounded by the smells of his pack and all those normal, ignorant others. He needed to get out.

...

...

A little boy stumbled while chasing another little boy. He tumbled to the ground, the knees of his pants getting dirty with grass and dirt and twigs. The other little boy kept going, barely seeming to notice or care that his pursuer was gone. The fallen boy pushed himself up with a huff and pat his knees.

When he looked up, there was a woman standing only a few feet in front of him. She had golden blond hair, fair skin, and a welcoming smile on her face. She was easily the most beautiful thing the boy had ever seen, like a fairy from one of his storybooks. When she held out a hand to him, the little boy was quick to close the distance between them.

A woman on the benches nearby finished putting empty tupperware into the bag by her side and huffed with a smile. She cast her gaze to the playground, looking for her son and the boy he'd been playing with as dragons and knights. After several long seconds of looking around, she caught sight of the other boy, but not her son.

"Pavlo?" she said loudly, still looking around as she stood from the bench. "Pavlo?!"

No matter how much she searched or shouted, her son never came running, and no one had seen a thing.

...

...

That afternoon, Allison texted her dad to tell him Scott was taking her home. Then she caught Scott before last period and asked him for a ride. Scott looked so pleased that she felt a little bad that getting to ride with her boyfriend was only part of the reason she'd asked.

"So that new pack," she began once they were away from the school.

Scott's pleased smile dimmed but he kept his voice light when he spoke. "They're an interesting group." He shook his head. "I'm glad Stiles was there to keep us from fighting. I lost my cool, and people could've been hurt by it."

She knew he meant her. He also meant Stiles and Lydia, and in part Isaac and the twins, but mostly her. Scott's priority was the pack, and within the pack it was her. There were times when Allison didn't know what to do with that amount of care.

Shaking her head, Allison said, "It worked out. I'm more worried about Isaac right now."

"Isaac?" Scott asked, and his voice lost its light tone.

Allison pushed on. "Yeah. He's been acting weird ever since the Namir pack showed up." At a quick, curious glance from Scott, she continued, "He's been spacing out, and he jumps at small noises. He ran away from me in the hallway earlier and then ditched classes altogether. That's not like him. I mean, it used to be when he was part of Derek's pack, but not since he started working with you."

For several long seconds, Scott drove in silence. Allison stayed quiet, recognizing that Scott needed some time to look back on the past few days and see if he found what she had observed to be true and what else he might have picked up from Isaac with his enhanced senses. If he found something worth noting, he also needed time to consider what it might mean and what their options were.

On her part, Allison was worried that Isaac was pulling away. The Namir pack was more balanced than the McCall pack. What if Isaac wanted to leave and join the visitors? What if he left forever? Her chest gave a dull throb at the thought. Isaac was part of their weird extended family. They had all already lost so much. Allison didn't want to lose anyone else.

"I think," Scott said after a few more moments of silence, "that maybe he's...scared. But I know Isaac will stand with us when it matters." He nodded once. "I trust him."

"I trust him too," Allison assured him. "I just want you to be more careful. The other pack is gonna cause trouble, I just know it."

Scott reached over to pat her on the leg once, twice, then gave her a brief glance and smile before returning his attention to the road. "I will. I promise I will."

...

...

"Come on, Doc! There's got to be some kind of spell or mystic compass or something that can help us find these missing kids!"

Deaton glanced to the rarely used bookcase in the corner of the room and then shook his head. "I understand that you want to help your father, but-"

Stiles leveled a glare at the older man. "This isn't just about my dad and you know it," he said. "The Namir pack is looking for any way to undermine Scott's claim on the old Hale territory. If kids are being kidnapped and we can't stop it? That makes us look weak." He gave a shrug. "Also it's just a really terrible thing to kidnap a kid and I wanna see the bastard in the back of my dad's cruiser."

Even with Stiles fantastic speech, Deaton didn't look convinced. The vet simply shrugged.

"I wish I could tell you that if you believed enough, you could find the answer to every problem you ever had," he said, "but locator spells are an extremely advanced skill. Even I would have trouble completing them properly, if at all. It's simply too dangerous."

If there was one thing Stiles hated, it was being told he couldn't do something. Just ask his dad. He always went above and beyond to do exactly what you told him he couldn't do.

"The best advice I can give you, as an emissary, is to have the wolf members of the pack try and find a scent and track the children down the old fashioned way."

Stiles huffed and dropped his head to the table top. "That could take forever. And there's no guarantee that we'd even find them in time."

This time, Deaton tilted his head slightly to the side. "The same would be true of using a locator spell." He frowned. "I am sorry, Stiles."

Stiles kept his head down on the metal table until the bell chimed in the front room. With a slight sigh, Deaton gave Stiles an awkward pat on the shoulder and went to meet his visitor. As soon as the door shut behind him, Stiles was up and reading through the titles on the bookshelf in the corner, hidden in the cabinet. There were five books of various sizes on herbs and their uses, with spells and wards laced inconspicuously throughout to avoid prying eyes. There was a book on tracking animals, a title that Stiles knew was somewhat false but that Deaton seemed to want to wait to teach Stiles from. The book was about how to identify and track supernatural creatures, not by spell but using the same techniques that regular human hunters would, and some that only hunters of the supernatural could accomplish.

That seemed like his best bet for finding a locator spell - something hidden among the seemingly mundane. Stiles pulled the book off the shelf and quickly hid it in the back of his pants, out of sight due to his layered clothing. Even if there wasn't a spell to find human children in the book, Stiles would still learn something useful that he could use against the Namir pack.

...

...

Scott pulled his bike to a stop and pulled off his helmet. He took a deep breath, scenting the air, and frowned. Nothing. Or, nothing that smelled like any of the missing children.

Four missing children in three days and no clues to go by. It was maddening. Stiles had told him everything the Sheriff knew on the case and every wolf in the pack had been set to high alert, but so far they'd had no luck. Stiles had even been trying his weird emissary mojo stuff to no avail. Allison's father had heard nothing about supernatural causes either.

Scott frowned deeper and turned his head to the left, finding Jasmeen standing against the building beside him.

"Hello, Scott," she greeted coolly. "I see your town is having some difficulties."

Now Scott let out a low growl. "If you've done something to those kids-"

Jasmeen snarled at him. "My pack would never dare harm a child! The culprit isn't even a wolf," she spat.

Immediately, Scott stopped growling and considered her. It was true that the feeling he was getting, the scents he was managing to pick up, didn't smell like a wolf. It didn't smell like a human - couldn't be if the scents were vanishing without a trace - but it wasn't a werewolf.

If a fight broke out, here and now, Scott was confident he would win. He wasn't sure what, but something told him he was stronger than Jasmeen. The McCall pack was stronger than the Namir pack. But fighting wasn't the answer and he'd rather avoid it if possible. Even if they would win, they wouldn't manage it without taking damage, and he didn't want that - for either side.

With a shake of her head, Jasmeen visibly calmed herself. Scott listened as her heart slowed back to its normal pace.

"Regardless," she breathed out, then took a deep breath. "It is regrettable that the McCall pack cannot even protect a few small children."

A new frown pulled at Scott's lips. "You don't care about the children," he accused, though there was little heat to his words. "If you did, you would be helping us search instead of just standing by and placing blame."

Jasmeen shrugged one shoulder and glanced down the street to where a main road crossed the one they stood on, cars appearing for a mere second before vanishing passed the next building over. "It's not our town to protect, and thus it is not our problem."

Scott gave a deep sigh and shake of his head, then slid his helmet back on and grabbed the handles of his bike. "And that's why you don't deserve to claim it," he told her simply, making eye contact, before he sped off to search elsewhere.

...

...

The sun was beginning to set and Stiles was starting to give up on finding any sign of the missing kids. If none of the wolves could find the kids, then Stiles was going to need more than his jeep and his human eyes to be of any use. He had just decided to turn around, head home, and drag that book he'd 'borrowed' from Deaton out from under the bed - Stiles was beginning to think it was the only way they'd get a break in this case - when suddenly the Jeep sputtered and died.

"What?" Stiles gasped, tapping the gas and the break several times. "What? What? No! Come on, don't do this," he whined as the blue vehicle rolled to a stop.

He turned the key in the ignition again and again, but the engine wouldn't turn over. Stiles cursed, smacked his steering wheel, and threw the door open. He slipped on the dry asphalt when his feet hit the ground but caught himself before he could face plant.

He lifted the hood to check if anything was wrong - not that he could really tell anyway, but it was worth a shot. He'd just located the battery when a knocking came from the passenger side of the Jeep and Stiles jumped. Snapping his head to the side, he saw Matteo giving him a sheepish smile.

"You!" Stiles gasped, clutching at his chest.

Matteo gave a half shrug. "Hey. I saw your Jeep and thought maybe we could talk. You know, human to human?" He glanced at the Jeep. "Or...are you busy?"

Stiles looked at his Jeep too, then sighed. He shut the hood almost solemnly. "No. I can talk. What'd you need?" He crossed his arms over his chest to look more imposing. Human or not, Matteo was from the pack that was trying to invade their territory.

The darker skinned boy took a deep breath. "The Namir pack needs your help."

Now Stiles was interested. He lowered his arms. "My help? Or the pack's help?"

Matteo pointed at Stiles. "Your help. We don't have an emissary," he revealed. Stiles raised an eyebrow and Matteo gave him another sheepish look. "Our emissary died recently. Not from anything we did," he quickly assured Stiles. "They caught the flu and it just got worse, no matter what we did, until they just...died." He shook his head. "But you did a great job the other night, keeping the packs from fighting. It was really impressive."

For a moment, Stiles allowed himself to feel pride at the compliment. He'd never had a chance to be an emissary for Scott before and he'd thought he did pretty well. To hear that someone else agreed was nice.

"The Namir pack would be grateful to have you," Matteo finished his spiel.

Even though he'd known it was coming, the words still made Stiles frown. He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, giving himself a moment to think about his response before he just spewed words. Hey, maybe Deaton was rubbing off on him a bit.

Ew.

Stiles shook his head. "You're not as good a liar as you think you are," he accused, and Matteo tilted his head curiously. Stiles waved a hand at the shorter male. "The Namir pack doesn't have an emissary? You are their emissary."

Matteo at least had the decency to look embarrassed at being caught in a lie.

"You think you can convince me to leave my pack?" Stiles asked, anger seeping into his voice.

He took a step around the Jeep to get into Matteo's personal bubble. The other male didn't back away, just looked up into Stiles' eyes confidently - a good trait for an emissary of wolves.

"I'm only going to tell you this once, so be a good emissary and tell the rest of the pack, alright?" Stiles said quietly. "Scott and the pack are my family. There is literally nothing that anyone in the Namir pack, or any pack, could say to make me abandon them. Even trying is kind of offensive to my pride," he finished almost casually.

The two boys held each other's gazes for several long seconds, then Stiles grinned and backed up. He had his hand on the door to the Jeep, about to hop back in, when Matteo's hand landed on his shoulder. Stiles glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

"How did you know I was the emissary?" Matteo asked, simple curiosity in his tone.

Turning to face Matteo, Stiles crossed his arms. "Really? It wasn't that hard," he said. Counting on his fingers, he said, "Only human, no special skills as far as I can see, and you obviously did something to my Jeep so you could talk to me. I know my Jeep and I know emissary charms. No car cuts out like that and you showed up way too quick to be a coincidence." He crossed his arms again and looked down his nose at Matteo, and got the expected response of hidden indignation. "You know wolves from being with your pack for awhile, but what you don't get is people. Normal, everyday humans. You move so much that you don't hang out with them enough. You're bad at lying because you never do it."

Stiles jumped into the driver's seat and shut the door before looking down at Matteo again.

"One more thing, Matteo."

Matteo lifted an eyebrow in much the same way Stiles had earlier. "What's that?"

Closing his eyes, Stiles pressed his will into the Jeep and believed that when he turned the key, the Jeep would work. Then he turned the key. The engine turned over and the vehicle jumped to life.

Glaring at Matteo outside, Stiles said, "You put a charm on my Jeep again, and you'll wake up in the hospital with mountain ash shoved so far up your butt that you'll shit forests for the rest of your life." With a manic smiled, he asked, "Clear?"

Now looking a bit green in the face, Matteo nodded. Stiles let out a hum of pleasure, gave Matteo a thumbs up, and drove away.

No one got to come in and mess with the Beacon Hills pack this way. Stiles was going to make sure that the Namir pack left Beacon Hills and never came back. Who did they think they were, waltzing in and trying to break the pack up?

...

...

"I can't believe you're still dating him."

"Shut up, Aiden."

"I'm serious. He was a nice cover when we were with Deucalion and sure, he's cute, but he's still human."

"I said, shut up, Aiden," Ethan repeated, stopping his walk to glare at his brother. "Aren't you dating Lydia, too?"

Aiden gave a casual shrug. "We're on a break. Or whatever. It was never meant to be forever, Ethan. Neither were you and your human."

"Aiden!"

They were in the woods, darkness creeping around them, following Scott's orders to search the woods for the missing children.

"I've had enough of you ripping on my relationship with Danny," Ethan continued hotly. "We've lost everything - both of our packs, our families, our homes. Why can't you just be happy that I'm happy?"

Aiden blinked at Ethan for several seconds, not saying a word. An owl hooted somewhere overhead. Aiden shook his head and glanced around them at the woods.

"Why are we even out here in the first place?" he asked.

Ethan wasn't surprised that his brother had avoided the question - Aiden was a master at avoiding the disagreements they had - but that didn't mean he wasn't disappointed. He really liked Danny, was actually starting to picture building a life with the human. Aiden was his brother and anchor. He needed both of them.

Ethan sighed. "Because children are missing and Scott asked us to check the woods, of course."

"Exactly," Aiden said. "Since when do we follow Scott? He claimed us in his pack but when did we agree to follow him?"

Ethan shook his head. "Do you have amnesia, Aiden? We need Scott to stay alive."

Aiden scowled. "No. We need a pack."

"And what pack is going to accept us, Aiden?!" Ethan shouted angrily, making Aiden take a step back from him in surprise. "Look at us. We're two alphas. We literally massacred our first pack and have killed a dozen other wolves besides. We're a bad bet. Scott sees past that. Scott is a True Alpha. Scott is the only alpha we can count on to accept us without fear."

It was obvious Aiden agreed with everything his brother said but didn't want to admit it. There was a rebellious tension in his shoulders. The twins stared each other down, both knowing Ethan was right but Aiden not ready to agree. It was stupid, to Ethan, that his brother wouldn't submit already. It had been Aiden's idea to join the McCall pack in the first place.

Perhaps his brother was afraid to settle down, afraid of the change that Scott's morals and lifestyle would bring. Ethan knew things would be different, but he wasn't afraid of them. He was tired of feeling like an outsider, a pariah, a monster. Scott and Beacon Hills were promising a home, and Ethan wanted to grab hold of it with both hands.

Suddenly Aiden's head snapped to the right, breaking their staring contest. "Did you hear that?"

Ethan blinked and looked in the direction his brother was. "Hear what?"

For a few long moments, filled with only the faint chirps of crickets and other nighttime bugs, Aiden continued to search the woods around them. Then he shook his head. "I thought I heard something disturbing the leaves."

"It might be whatever's taking the kids."

Before Ethan could take a step in the direction Aiden was looking, his older brother shook his head again and said, "Whoever or whatever it was, it's gone. I don't even hear a heartbeat anymore."

Ethan heaved a heavy sigh. "It's still more to go on than we had before."

He took off at a leisurely run and heard Aiden join him a moment later. Like Aiden had said, there was no one and nothing in the area around them, but they kept going. Ethan kept running just for something to do besides walking.

Then he came to an abrupt halt, Aiden almost crashing into his back.

"What now?" Aiden asked, looking around with a glare as if expecting to be surrounded by enemies.

"Listen," Ethan whispered. "It's so quiet."

There was no bug chirps, no owl hoots, no squirrels in the trees, so rabbits in the brush. The forest was deathly silent. Werewolves were apex predators and even they didn't make the forest this still with their presence.

The boys continued forward with muted steps, keeping sharp eyes out for signs of anything suspicious. After only two minutes, they crested a hill and froze in their tracks.

"Call Scott," Aiden murmured so only his brother would hear. "I think we found our kidnapper."

...

...

Sitting around the campfire, the Namir pack looked like a strange college club on vacation. Zion was just slipping the food gear into the back of a 2001 VW bus. As he made his way back to sit around the fire, conversation which had lagged during the meal picked up.

"How are things going?" Jasmeen asked calmly, glancing around at her pack.

Yukina gave a shrug. "The beta is a possibility. He seems unsure and wavering. I think if we give him another push, he'll either abandon his alpha or try to become an alpha himself."

Jordan focused on the resident human. "What about their emissary?" he asked.

For a moment, Matteo stayed quiet, staring at the fire. Then he sighed and shook his head.

"What exactly does that mean, Matteo?" Jasmeen asked, voice dangerous.

"It means, we're not gonna win him over." He looked up and locked eyes with his alpha. "He's loyal, unshakeable. He was glad for the praise but refused the offer. He saw right through our plan."

"What else?" Harriet asked when Matteo didn't settle down after speaking.

Matteo sighed. "He's stronger than me, than any emissary I've ever seen." He shut his eyes. "I spent awhile drawing the sigils on his Jeep to make it malfunction and all he had to do was close his eyes for a moment and I felt them all vanish."

All eyes turned to Jasmeen, who closed her eyes for a moment to think. She hummed before opening them again.

"If it comes to battle for the territory, I think Justin should handle the brat," she said at length. "Humans so often underestimate others based on their age, you'll have the advantage."

"I would be careful about the other alphas if I were you," the old man added, his lips quirking up. "Regardless of whether you can get the beta to turn on his alpha or leave him, those two will not follow him. Their allegiance might falter if their leader fell, but unless we work to create a wedge between them, three alphas together could wipe us out."

Jasmeen nodded. "Eloquent as always. Yes. We'll ignore the emissary boy and focus on-"

Her speech was cut off by a strange yowling sound. It was nothing like any wolf or beast of the forest and caused cold shivers to shoot down the Namir pack's spines. Just as the noise began to fade away, the wind picked up and blew so forcefully that it put out their campfire.

And in a moment they were surrounded.

...

...

"It was a cloud," Ethan explained. "Gray and amorphous and wispy."

He, Aiden, Scott, and Stiles were in Scott's living room, where they'd met up after Ethan had called them. Allison and Lydia and Isaac were on their way.

"It felt alive," Aiden took over. "We could see something, a lot of somethings, moving inside, but couldn't make out what they were. It was like looking at smoke messages."

Scott nodded slowly. "Okay...Did you see any kids? Smell anything? Hear anything?"

The twins glanced at each other briefly before shrugging in sync.

"No," Aiden answered.

"It didn't have a scent, and it made no noise," Ethan continued. "We didn't see any kids either, but we didn't see anything else alive period, not even an ant, so...who knows."

When Scott turned his eyes on Stiles, the twins were quick to follow. Stiles blinked multiple times in quick succession.

"What?"

Scott shook his head once before locking eyes with Stiles again. "You've read the bestiary. You're studying under Deaton. You're our emissary," he said. "Do you know what they saw?"

Stiles closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then tilted his head to the side just a bit. He hummed and ran a hand through his hair roughly. "It...might be...Unseelie?" When he opened his eyes he saw that everyone was looking at him with absolutely no comprehension. He sighed. "Fairies. They might be fairies."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Fairies?" Stiles nodded.

"Like Tinkerbell?" Aiden asked.

Now Stiles shook his head. "Not a bit. No, these are evil, cut out your soul, beauty-as-a-weapon fairies," he explained. "According to the bestiary and the doc's weird emissary ramblings, Unseelie are fairies that committed crimes against the world and fairies alike, so they were kicked out. They go around stealing the souls of the weak, using them to gain more power. To get revenge, I guess."

"I guess you can't get an easier soul than from a child," Scott reasoned in a stilted, quiet voice. "As soon as the others get here, we're going to go back and find that cloud and get those kids. I don't want any unnecessary heroics though. We go in. We grab the kids. We get out. We'll deal with the fairies themselves once there are no hostages."

Ethan raised his hand as if he were in class and Scott was the teacher. When he got a nod from the younger alpha, he said, "There might be a slight problem." Scott gave him a 'go on' look. "On our way back, Aiden and I smelled the Namir pack."

"They're camped out right next to the fairy zone," Aiden finished for his brother.

Scott's eyes flashed red. "Stiles, call the others and tell them to get here now. We need to hurry."

...

...

The Jeep jerked to a stop and the three human members of the McCall pack hurried to get out and join the fighting going on in front of them. Scott, the twins, and Isaac had run on ahead, their super speed getting them into the woods and finding the Namir pack before the Jeep could maneuver around the trees and bushes with them. Allison immediately notched an arrow and let it loose into the jumble of creatures in the clearing. She was faster at examining the scene than Stiles.

The first thing Stiles saw were the unseelie. There were dozens of them, all around three feet tall. Grey and black clothing hung from slim, yet somehow still beautiful skin the color of ash. Their features were long, matching their large, pointed ears. Their hair was a multitude of colors, with reds, black, browns, whites, and blondes all over, but it all seemed dark and muted. Still, somehow, they seemed to glow in the night. Then his eyes flicked to the cloud just beyond the clearing. As the twins had said, it was grey and wispy, and it appeared to be moving slowly closer to the fighting. As Stiles watched, another unseelie drifted from its haze. Instead of ashen skin, theirs was fair and smooth, and all the more beautiful for it. It only took a second for the unseelie to flinch back and the healthy color to drain from their skin, shrinking from around six feet to the diminished three of its fellows, leaving them looking like all the other fairies already fighting.

Stiles followed its angry gaze and saw Matteo standing behind Zion and Scott, muttering to himself and drawing sigils in the air. He was holding some sort of plant in his hand but Stiles couldn't judge what it was from the distance and through all the moving bodies.

The Namir pack was scattered throughout the clearing. Yukina was on the ground, growling and snapping at any fairy that came close, but bleeding badly from her right arm and left leg, and without time for them to heal properly before she was attacked again. Isaac and the old man, Justin, stood over her protectively, dead fairy bodies littering the ground around them. Jasmeen and Jordan were tag teaming, with Aiden and Ethan fused together and assisting them, across the clearing from the rest of their pack. And Harriet, her blonde hair standing out in the night, was fending off three unseelie all by herself.

Allison's loosed arrow lodged itself in the back of a fairy around Harriet. The fairy let out a yowling wail and began dissolving before their eyes. All of the unseelie turned and looked at the newcomers. Lydia held up Stiles' aluminum bat and squared her shoulders, chin held high.

"Let's even the odds a bit, shall we?" Allison asked rhetorically, already notching another arrow and taking aim. Even though the fairy next to Scott caught the arrow, the sharp point cut their hand and once again it yowled and began to dissolve into the air.

The unseelie let out hiss and shouts of anger, and then rushed for Allison all at once. The wolves in the clearing grabbed whatever fairy they could get their claws on and forced them back, but that still left a small wave of darkness coming at the three human members of the McCall pack.

They can't touch her, Stiles thought. They can't lay a single grubby hand on her.

He didn't have time to throw any ash, but he imagined he could see the shield surrounding Allison, surrounding Lydia, keeping the unseelie from being able to touch them. As he thought this, unseelie reached them. They got near the girls, Lydia lifting the bat higher to protect herself, and then bounced away like they hit an invisible wall.

Stiles was shocked. It worked without an ash barrier?!

An unseelie hit the barrier and stopped, then forced its hand closer. Whatever was keeping them out in mass was failing with a single hand, and Allison kicked the unseelie in the chest to knock it back.

Reaching into his pocket, Stiles pulled out a vial of ash. It wasn't werewolf ash, though. This was made from the wood of a California Pepper Tree, which Deaton had said was strong against fairies.

Protect them, Stiles ordered at the ash in his hand, then threw it toward the girls. It didn't form a circle around them, but a line three feet in front of them. Try as they might, the fairies couldn't cross it.

"Thanks, Stiles," Allison said. Fairies kept throwing themselves at the girls, but they couldn't get over the line, even by trying to go around it. Allison pulled an arrow from her quiver and jabbed it into the neck of one of the fairies, who screeched as they faded away.

Lydia ran forward and smacked another on the head, sending it flying into a nearby oak tree. She nodded at Stiles, as if to tell him they could handle themselves. Nodding back, Stiles took off around the edge of the clearing.

Scott threw his fairy to the ground and punched it so hard that it didn't get back up. Zion ripped another in half, making Scott cringe.

"Really?" he managed before another three foot enemy grabbed him around the middle, knocking him to his knees. Scott clawed at its arms and what he could reach of it behind him, felt its own claws ripping the skin on his stomach.

Then the fairy abruptly stopping tearing at him and went limp. It fell off his back and Zion pulled his claws from its back.

Scott didn't like needing to kill the unseelie, sure that there had to be some good in at least a few of them, but he understood that they weren't human, and they were the way they were because they'd committed terrible crimes. That still didn't mean he enjoyed it.

"Thanks," he said, earning a nod and a slight smile from Zion.

From behind them, Matteo shouted when he was grabbed by two unseelie. Scott and Zion took the two steps between them and Matteo, but the unseelie were already lifting into the air with him and flying toward the ever closer cloud. They tried to grab him back but half a dozen unseelie chose that moment to jump at them all at once. Scott and Zion put their backs together to fend them off, angry that they were being kept from Matteo.

Harriet let out a growly shout as well when she was also snatched up. The fairies holding Harriet were closer to the edge of the clearing and the cloud, but they never even made it six feet. Taking a flying leap, Isaac crashed into them, wrapping his arms around Harriet protectively as they tumbled to the ground. The unseelie whined at the hard landing and were slow to get back up. Harriet barely spared Isaac a glance before shoving out of his arms and ripping the throats out of the fairies who tried to take her away.

Half of a fairy body landed next to Isaac on the opposite side from where Harriet was, making him jump away. Jasmeen landed next to it in a crouch, grinned at him like Kali of the alpha pack used to, and then rushed back into the fray. The twins towered over everything else in the clearing, barreling through unseelie like a juggernaut and ripping them apart like rice paper.

Isaac frowned and jumped up, tense all over. He wouldn't be upstaged by the others, would hold his own and prove his worth. With these thoughts in mind, he rushed over to help Harriet beat down more of what seemed to be an everlasting storm of unseelie.

Stiles was grabbing plants from the ground near the clearing. He cursed himself, not remembering how many children had gone missing and if he had enough daisies and if the St. John's Wort in his pockets would do if need be. He wished he carried a pack of some sort in his Jeep – an emissary emergency kit or something – but he still needed to call Deaton to figure out what the hell to get, so he couldn't exactly make a respectable kit yet. As it was, he was just glad there were daisies at all, since they weren't natural to California, and really what were the odds of there being daises – something that repelled fairies, around a bunch of oak trees – something that drew fairies in?

His internal ramblings were cut off by the sounds of a struggle. Stiles recognized the grunts and short yells of frustration even though he'd only had one conversation with anyone from the Namir pack. Looking up he saw Matteo being dragged toward the unseelie fog, which was much closer than it had been.

"Stiles!" Matteo shouted when he caught sight of the other emissary. "Do something! Make a ward!"

Wards? "I don't know any wards!" he called back helplessly, hurrying after the fairies holding Matteo anyway. "That's not til next month's lessons!"

Matteo's hands were being held out, away from his body, not allowing him to do anything at all to save himself. "Are. You. Kidding. Me?!" he grunted, struggling with each word. "Yes you do!"

Then Stiles had to stumble to a stop because Matteo had vanished into the cloud. He actually had to take several flailing steps back as the cloud continued to advance toward him. Stiles glanced behind him at the fighting in the clearing a few dozen feet behind him. At the rate the cloud was going, and with which it was pouring forth more fairies to fight, it would reach the packs well before the fighting was over. Stiles didn't know what would happen if it reached them, but he didn't want to take that chance.

Allison and Lydia had only a small pile of fairies around them, probably because Allison's arrows made the fairies dissolve rather than fall down dead. Stiles would have to look into what her arrows were made of and figure out why that worked. You know, in case of future fairy attacks.

Shaking his head, Stiles looked down at the flowers in his hands and counted. Eleven little daises. That had to be enough, right? With a deep breath, he looked up into the amorphous grey of the approaching cloud.

"Well. Here goes nothing."

He ran into the cloud.

Scott didn't like the look of the battle.

One of the Unseelie had Jordan by the hair, keeping him hovering just off the ground, while two more clawed at him from either side. The twins had separated after a rough blow knocked them into a tree hard enough to snap it in half. Justin had blood running down both arms and Yukina was looking almost as pale of the old man from her own wounds. Isaac had a slash across his chest but it didn't appear to be slowing him down. There was blood on Jasmeen but most of it was dark fairy blood and not her own. Harriet's hair was uneven where some of it had been hacked off.

Allison and Lydia were handling themselves well, Lydia knocking out any unseelie that came near and Allison firing arrows into the mob to kill unseelie from a distance. Mostly she was killing fairies that got near the McCall pack, more than the Namir.

Even as Scott threw one unseelie into another, he saw Allison loose her last arrow. He knew she would take out her knives next to continue fighting, leaving the safety of Stiles' barrier. He also knew she could handle herself, that she was as deadly as any werewolf.

Stiles and Matteo were nowhere to be seen.

"STOP!" Scott shouted and then let loose a loud, alpha roar.

Isaac, Ethan, and Aiden immediately stopped fighting and lowered their head, deferring to Scott. Harriet, Zion, and Yukina were quick to follow. Allison sheathed her knives and Lydia lowered her bat. Even the unseelie stopped fighting, releasing their hold on their combatants, and looked chastised. Justin, Jasmeen, and Jordan slowed to a stop when they noticed the battle had paused.

Eyes glowing red, Scott stood tall. He was covered in dirt and blood, but the moon shone down into the clearing and his authority was clear.

"This is ridiculous. We shouldn't even be fighting. There is no reason to fight over the land and people of Beacon Hills," he stated, simple but broaching no argument. "They're already claimed. This land belongs to me and my pack. Beacon Hills is our territory. No one, no werewolf, no fairy, has any right to trespass without our permission. And since I didn't give you permission, you shouldn't be here. End of story."

His gaze and tone were dangerous, and the fairies actually shivered in fear of what was promised to those who crossed him.

From Jordan's throat came a low growl of challenge, but Scott barely glanced at him before it fell silent.

"End. Of. Story," Scott repeated, slowly, so there was no confusion. He let his eyes roam over the unseelie, both living and dead. "Take your dead. Give us back the children. Leave Beacon Hills and never come back."

Now the unseelie shuffled restlessly. Some rose into the air and some stayed on the ground, but they were almost all glaring and rebellious.

"You cannot have the children," one of them said in a voice like steam from a kettle. It was the first time any of the unseelie had spoken. "We will keep the children."

"Actually, no you will not."

Everyone in the clearing turned to see Stiles standing at the edge of the clearing, a little blonde haired boy held securely in his arms and a white flower tucked behind his ear. Behind him, half hidden in the underbrush, was Matteo and eight other small children. All of the children were unconscious but Matteo was awake and standing guard over them. The wispy cloud was just to their left, out of reach of the kids.

An unseelie cried out in rage and darted toward them. Its hand landed on one of the sleeping children and it wailed in pain, jumping back several feet and looking both confused and murderous.

"Daisies," Matteo informed it, like it was a stupid child. "You can't touch them. So yeah, you'll have to leave without the kids."

Scott stepped forward once and all unseelie eyes flipped back to him. He narrowed his eyes at them. "Last chance. You leave, now, without the children, or you don't leave at all."

A flare of red eyes had the unseelie bitterly retreating. They gathered their injured and dead, and then quickly but begrudgingly disappeared into the fog. None of the wolves or humans dared move in case the fighting began anew. In five minutes, the McCall and Namir packs were alone in the clearing.

The wispy grey cloud seemed to shimmer, and then it dissipated like early morning mist in a rising sun.

"I can't believe that worked," Aiden commented. He shared a curious look with his brother. "Why did that work?"

Jasmeen frowned at them in disappointment before turning to Scott. "You did not tell me you were a True Alpha."

Scott shrugged, the hard lines of authority fading from him in one movement. Once again he was but a high school student. "To be honest, I'm still not sure what that means."

"A True Alpha rises to power based on the might of their morals, their spirit, their heart. They gain strength from their own character as well as from those around them," Matteo said. He looked sideways at Stiles. "I'm surprised you don't know about all this, Stiles." There was no sneer or reproach in his voice, just authentic surprise.

And really, Stiles would love to know when Matteo decided Stiles was so great as an emissary. Knowing wards, detailed knowledge of rare werewolf lore. Why did he think Stiles would know this stuff? Trying to break up a pack, flattery could be used as a weapon, but this wasn't empty flattery. The way Matteo had looked at and spoken to him since he arrived at the fight was with honest admiration and genuine confusion when Stiles didn't live up to some weird expectations the older boy apparently had for him.

"Well, I did know that," Stiles told him, shifting his hold on the boy in his arms.

"True Alphas," Jasmeen continued before Matteo could speak again, "can command more than simply their own pack. While they cannot turn other wolves from their own alpha, they do command respect and a level of obedience from creatures of all kinds." She waved her hand in the direction the cloud had been as an example.

Jordan shook his head, his dreads flipping back and forth over his broad shoulders, and gave a little laugh. "It seems your emissary was not wrong in calling this the True Pack of Beacon Hills," he said like it was a funny joke. His own pack smiled, at least.

"Does this mean you're not going to try and take over Beacon Hills anymore?" Isaac asked cautiously.

Jasmeen gave a slight frown, looking at the blood spattered forest floor rather than at any of Scott's pack. In the quiet, they could hear the sounds of life returning slowly to the forest around them. Crickets chirped, an owl hooted, a frog croaked. Though soft, these sounds seemed to prove that the fighting was over, that all danger had passed, and life had returned to normal.

Whatever normal was.

Lifting her eyes to Scott, Jasmeen let her eyes flash red, but there was no challenge in them. "No. It seems Beacon Hills is already claimed by a worthy pack. It is an unconventional group, but one with great potential and strong ties between its members. I wish them all the best of luck."

As if it was some form of handshake, every wolf present let their eyes glow for a moment as well.

Stiles arms were growing tired and he resituated the boy once more. "Great. Before we all split ways on such happy terms, could you maybe give us a hand getting these kids to the police station?"

...

...

"Dear Stiles," Allison read aloud.

"Is Stiles the lead in a romance novel now?" Lydia interrupted almost immediately.

Stiles reached out with his foot to lightly kick her in the foot from where he was lying flat on Scott's bedroom floor. She glared at him hard enough to make him remember that those were brand new designer shoes and that if he had scuffed them in any way, his intestines would be a key ingredient in her next science experiment. He hurriedly pulled his foot away and scurried as far from her in the room as possible, using his shoulder blades and elbows to move.

"Dear Stiles," Allison began again, reading from the paper in her hands. It was creased all over from being shoved in Stiles' pocket and dragged around. "On behalf of my alpha, Jasmeen Namir, I wish to give, once again, our deepest apologies for intruding so rudely on your territory. It was wrong of us to attempt to break up your pack and we all sincerely regret what we did. We also hope that the children are home safely and have recovered from their trip to the fairy realm."

Aiden scoffed like it was stupid of them to ask, but said nothing, and Ethan leveled an unimpressed look at his brother.

"The Namir pack will spread the word that Beacon Hills is claimed and protected by a strong pack. The McCall Pack. This should keep rival packs from attempting to lay claim to your land," Allison continued without pause, as if she had not heard him.

Scott gave a relieved sigh that was felt by everyone gathered. The Nemeton would bring enough trouble from supernatural creatures. Not having to worry about other werewolf packs would be a blessing.

After taking her own relieved breath, Allison read, "I've spoken with your mentor, Mr. Alan Deaton. He was able to clear up some questions I had regarding your skills as an emissary and we discussed possible further training for you. If you have any questions that he is unable to answer, know that I would be pleased to be of assistance to a Spark and you can call on me anytime."

This time it was Isaac who interrupted. "What's a Spark?" he asked.

Everyone turned to Stiles, he shrugged against the carpet with an aggravated frown. "Deaton won't tell me," he groused. "It's like he thinks it's funny that I don't know. I mean, he once told me that everyone has a spark, the ability to do what emissaries do, if they train hard enough, but Capital S Spark?" He shook his head. "I tried googling it but I just found stuff about making a fire, or how the human soul is the spark of life, or computer data programs. Deaton just said I'd 'figure it out in time,' like that's an actual answer."

"We can check the bestiary and see if it mentions a Capital S Spark," Allison suggested, a slight tease in her voice.

Stiles didn't contradict her. He'd read the bestiary before, but it wasn't like he had the thing memorized – contrary to what Scott seemed to believe. He'd let her or someone else look at it though, have fresh eyes try and parse it out. His mind was caught on how multiple sources from google had mentioned a spark like the essence of people, and how the actions of one would in turn effect and alter all the others. Though he was certain those books had meant simply that the deeds of one person affect the lives of those around them, Stiles couldn't help but wonder if Matteo's 'Spark' meant that Stiles could affect people with his belief. If, simply by believing in something strong enough, he could literally change the world.

He waved his hand flippantly at her. "Finish the letter."

"Technically it's an email," Isaac pointed out just to be difficult. Stiles flicked him off without a word.

Allison shook her head fondly. "Justin also sends his regards. He hopes the rest of your pack returns to you shortly, and that you can strengthen the bonds between them and yourself in due time. A broken pack is a weakened pack, and though you seem strong enough now, I too hope your missing pack comes back to you soon. Matteo Fiorentino."

"Who do you think he means by missing pack members?" Aiden asked.

Lydia sighed like everything was a burden to her. "Think for a minute. What other werewolves might you smell like?" She glanced around the room but no one answered, though everyone but the twins seemed to understand. "The Hales? Derek and Cora left only seventeen days ago and Peter, though we don't know where he is, probably left his scent all over town too. Honestly."

Allison unfolded the last bit of the paper. "PS, your mentor doesn't seem the kind to tell you, so I will: You are gifted with wards. With practice, I know that your wards will become like works of art, and I hope you will demonstrate them for me next time we meet. You will be an excellent emissary to your pack and do great things with your life. If nothing else, believe in that."

Ethan nudged Stiles' shoulder with his socked foot and Stiles regretted where he'd taken refuge from Lydia's glare. "I think Matteo likes you," the twin teased.

Stiles shoved his foot away, but Aiden just continued the torment from the other side in his brother's stead. Twins.

"Shut up. He likes my wards," Stiles protested.

"Is that what they call it now?" Lydia joined in the ribbing, barely looking up from where she now held the printed email in her hands.

Even Scott and Isaac weren't hiding their grins. Stiles frowned around at them. "I hate all of you. Just so you know. Each and every one of you. You're terrible."

"Let me know when you're going to skype him," Scott said, expression and tone serious. It only lasted for about one second after Stiles turned a curious gaze upon him, and then he was grinning again. "You might need a chaperone."

The next moment saw Scott's face getting intimately acquainted with Stiles' shoe, but it didn't stop Scott's laughter.

...

...

tbc...

...

...

Next Time: Anchor Me

As the full moon approaches, tensions mount. It's Scott's first full moon since becoming a True Alpha and Isaac's first since Derek left. Matters only get worse when Aiden vanishes the night of the full moon, leaving Ethan without his anchor and Danny caught in his sights.