Too High a Priceby Dreaming of a Bright Sky

Second in the Magic's Call series

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters!

Chapter 2 of 10

The bond thrummed with tension and then he received a text. "Not safe. Stay put. We'll come to you. -D" Unbeknownst to the other students, the college had become a warzone. It was the one place where Stile's had a known routine and the wolves couldn't be right at his side. There were only two weeks to go, but Stiles still didn't know if he'd be able to safely finish.

Everybody kept telling him to stick it out, but he felt like he was putting a lot of people in danger for this. He didn't know if the risk was worth it. He'd never forgotten the innocent people who'd been killed at the other college. If it happened again, or if anyone from the pack got killed... He shook his head. He didn't want to go there.

When class ended he gathered up his stuff and shuffled out with the rest. However, instead of leaving, he stood in the hall. Stiles was still feeling tension down the link, so he knew the threat was still high. Students came and went as he waited, and the only thing holding him in place was the knowledge that Derek would flip out if he left. As high as the stress level had been lately, he didn't want to push it. He'd begun tapping his fingers against the wall when Scott came around the corner. "Hey, where's Derek?"

Stiles stood up straighter. "What do you mean? Isn't he with you?"

"No. He was chasing after somebody on the roof. He said that he'd meet me back here."

Stiles opened up the link further. They'd found that if they left it wide open, it got very distracting. They'd figured out how to keep it at a low background hum until they needed to use it. He could tell that Derek was close by and unhurt. His mate felt him and sent a pulse of reassurance. "He's on his way. So what was it this time?"

"Werewolves. They wanted to 'borrow' you. Derek refused. It was posturing more than any real fighting. It's too public here."

"It means they'll be back."

Scott shrugged and pushed off the wall. "I thought Derek was on his way. Where is he? I'm supposed to be at the clinic soon."

"I'm here." Stiles knew that Derek was fine, but seeing him helped him relax. The alpha wrapped an arm behind Stiles and they all moved out to the parking lot. "Stiles is right. They'll probably be back, so Scott? Be careful."

"Will do!"

The beta headed out and Stiles watched him go. "Think he'll be safe?"

"He's strong. He'll be fine." He opened Stiles' door. "Get in. I don't like standing out here in the open." Belying his earlier statement, as soon as they were in the car, the alpha called Deaton. "Scott's on his way. Let me know if he doesn't get there."

As they drove, Stiles talked. "We need to find a way to turn this to our advantage; to use my abilities to make our pack stronger and more powerful. If we're bad-ass enough, people will leave us alone." Derek didn't say anything and the bond from his end was tightly tamped down. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I can't expand the pack. It would break the terms of agreement with the Argents."

"Right." Stiles was confused. He knew this already.

"Allison is back in town. She stopped in to see me at the house before I came and took over for Isaac."

"What did she want?" Wow. Allison. She'd left for college and hadn't come back, even after she'd graduated.

"She evidently still has contacts with the hunting community. She warned me that she'd heard rumors of our pack's power growing, and that we'd better not break the treaty."

"Fantastic." Stiles' tone was bitingly sarcastic. "So now we have to watch out for idiots who want my abilities and hunters. That's just great. I take it that Scott doesn't know."

"No. I haven't told him yet. I'm waiting to see if she stays in Beacon Hills or if she was just delivering the message."

"You'll need to tell him either way. If she stays and he finds out that you hadn't told him, he's going to be upset. We don't need that kind of division in the pack right now."

"We also don't need him to go off half-cocked! You know how he is about her!"

Stiles laid a hand on Derek's leg. "I know, but you have to trust him. If he screws up, we'll deal with it, but I don't think he will."

Derek's hands tightened on the steering wheel, but he didn't keep arguing.

###

Stiles was counting down the days until college was over. Next week was finals and today was his last day of actual classes. The other pack had attempted to take him at the college twice more, and made one attempt when he'd been with Dr. Morrell. In that last case, one of the other pack's wolves had been killed. Dr. Morrell; Mathias or Matt, as Stiles now called him, had shot it with a bullet infused with wolfsbane and mountain ash. The effect had been...horrifying.

The pack had done them one favor: They'd run off a group of magic users who wanted Stiles to join them instead of running with werewolves. They felt that humans should help humans, and that it was a travesty that Stiles was helping the 'foul creatures of the moon'.

Derek was ready to crush the invading pack, but Stiles refused to let it happen at the school. Combined with Allison Argent's surveillance of them, he wasn't ready to start a war. Everybody was at an impasse and Stiles knew that it was going to explode. Scott had tried talking to Allison, but she'd shut the door in his face. It was a three way face off, and Stiles was afraid that they'd all come out losers.

His last full day of classes went without a hitch and it made Stiles nervous. The drive home was quiet, too. It wasn't until late that night that shit hit the fan. Stiles woke to Derek pulling clothes on and tension rising through the link. "What is it?"

"The other pack is here. Get your dad and go to the safe room."

Stiles started getting dressed. "I'll get dad up and we'll join you."

Derek grabbed his shoulders. "No! I want you to be protected."

Stiles shook him off. "I've been running with the pack since I was sixteen. Do you really think that I'm going to run and hide? I can help you, and you know it!"

"You can also help from inside the safe room!"

Stiles stood his ground and looked at Derek. "I'm not hiding. I'm going to get my dad up, and we're going to face this together." With one last look at his mate, the young man grabbed a backpack from the end of the bed and headed to his dad's room. Once the older man was up, he met up with Derek downstairs. "Has the pack been alerted?"

"Yeah, I sent a text."

Isaac was downstairs, and the four of them went out onto the front porch. Stiles reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of powder. Then he opened up the link to Derek and slowly began pushing power through. He felt it seep through the pack bond. He could feel Isaac on the porch next to him, and Scott was on his way. Erica and Boyd were already circling behind the property, and Danny was coming.

It started fast. One minute Derek was on the porch next to him, and the next the alpha was launching himself into the night. With a snarl, Isaac wolfed out and Stiles heard the crash of bodies impacting. His dad had his gun out and ready, wolfsbane bullets loaded. He pushed more power down the link, hoping to help his pack.

A dark shape darted towards them and Sheriff Stilinski fired. It was a clean head shot, and Stiles couldn't help but be impressed. Another shape blurred towards them and the Sheriff aimed, and then abruptly yanked his gun up. The Sheriff spoke, knowing that all the wolves could hear him. "Friendlies need to warn me, or you're going to get hit!"

The dark shape coalesced from the darkness and Stiles could now see that it was Boyd. "Sorry. Derek wants me back here with you two."

"That's fine, son, but warn a guy next time. I almost shot you."

Before more could be said, another wolf made a run at the porch and Boyd was on it. The pair rolled and snarled on the ground, blood spraying. Stiles hoped that the blood was the invading wolf's and not Boyd's.

The two humans could hear the snarls and fighting, but it was hard to see. It was cloudy, and they didn't have werewolf vision. A car came skidding up into the driveway, and Stiles was pretty sure that it was Scott. A shape jumped out of the car and swallowed by the chaos.

Boyd was back on the porch, covered in blood, but he didn't seem injured. He'd said "friendly" when he'd come back, moving slowly with his hands held out. The Sheriff had nodded and waved him on up. Another wolf dropped from the roof, and Sheriff Stilinski shot it. The wolf went stumbling back with a howl, bullet wound flashing blue on its shoulder. Boyd raked his claws along its neck, and it dropped with a wet thud on the steps.

Another one dropped and Stiles threw a handful of powder and willed it to bind. The werewolf dropped like a rock, and Isaac darted up with a quickly muttered "friendly", dispatching it. Stiles felt bad, but he knew they needed to kill these intruders. Werewolf politics didn't allow for a lot of softness and if you didn't kill a pack that attacked you, you were seen as weak and became a target.

Scott had been thrown near the porch and two werewolves were on him. Sheriff Stilinski shot one and the other suddenly sprouted arrows. Looking around wildly, Stiles tried to spot Allison. He knew it had to be her. Scott stood and stared out into the darkness, and Stiles knew that he could see her. The beta looked for a few seconds and then was back into the fray.

Stiles was still pumping energy down the bond and he could feel Derek's rage. They were intruding on his territory, threatening his mate, and fighting with his pack. Stiles had no idea how many wolves Derek had already taken out, but his mate was in an almost beserker like fury. He didn't, however, take out Allison; and Stiles knew that Derek could sense her.

Stiles' brief moment of inattention almost cost him. Another wolf dropped from the roof and had almost grabbed Stiles when Boyd roared and was shoving Stiles back. A second wolf was suddenly there, and he was ready with another handful or powder. Bind! Another one down, and he heard his dad's gun fire another round. Just how many wolves did this pack have?!

He turned when his dad kept firing. Boyd was still fighting with the one that had almost gotten Stiles, and there were several almost on his dad. He threw the whole jar of powder and thought bind! but it missed the one at the end. His dad's gun clicked empty and Stiles began reaching into his bag when an arrow thudded into the werewolf's back. Sheriff Stilinski's shoulder's sagged in relief and he quickly reloaded his gun. Stiles readied another jar of powder and some oil.

Boyd had finished with his wolf and dispatched all the ones that were bound by Stiles' magic. The sounds of fighting were lessening and one by one, their pack was gathering on the porch. The last one up was Derek. He was covered with blood and other things that Stiles didn't want to think about. Once everybody was accounted for, they sent Lydia a text. She'd been waiting for the go ahead and would be there soon. As a human non-combatant with no magical powers, she didn't participate in the battles unless it could be helped.

The bodies were laid out in the giant fire pit and Stiles tried counting them. Derek came up beside him. "Thirty two."

"That should tell these people not to mess with us. We had two humans and five werewolves, and we took out a pack of thirty two wolves. It was a freaking blood bath." He turned to Derek. "Are packs normally that big? That seems like a lot."

"Maybe twenty were part of the pack that has been hanging around the college. Judging by scent, there was another small pack involved, and a couple of omegas."

"Crap. So they're ganging up on us now. Wonderful."

Scott spoke. "Allison took out three."

"Is she still here?"

"No. She's already gone."

Erica had joined them. "How did we take out thirty two werewolves with seven people? Eight, if you count Allison. Are any of us even hurt?"

Derek answered. "Stiles. He was pumping energy through the bond and it made us all faster and stronger."

Stiles had been sprinkling the bodies with some sort of scented oil. "Okay, Dr. Morrell taught me this trick, but I've only done it on dead animals to be cremated at the clinic. Step back, okay? This is a lot bigger than I'm used to."

After everybody was clear, Stiles believed that the bodies would burn down to ashes with nothing else remaining. He tossed a match on the pile, stepped back, and thought burn! For a second, air sucked into the space and then fire shot up like a geyser. Derek darted forward and grabbed Stiles, turning his mate away from the fire. He felt the heat searing his back. With a whoosh, the fire went out and all that remained was smoldering ash.

Stiles eyes were big. "Next time, we need to rig something to light it from a distance. Holy crap!" his face was pink from the heat, but he didn't seem hurt. He turned Derek around. The alpha's back was deep red. "Oh my God!"

His mate winced and grimaced a bit at being twisted around. "It's fine. I'll heal."

Lydia had arrived and was overseeing clean up. She was helping Isaac and Erica hose down the front yard to get rid of the blood and gore.

The werewolves were rinsing off in an outdoor shower near the back porch. It was normally used before getting into the hot tub, but in this case, it would keep them from tracking blood everywhere. Stiles got Derek under it and began gently rinsing him down. The alpha didn't make a sound, but he could feel his mate's discomfort. When rinsed clean, Stiles patted the werewolf dry and chivied him inside.

All of their clothes went into the wash and the pack slipped into fresh sets. Then they raided the fridge. Stiles grabbed two plates, and brought them back to Derek. They all sat there eating, coming down from the battle. Stiles addressed the elephant in the room. "So...Allison."

Derek swallowed his food. "She's been watching us on and off since she came to town. She was out there when the other pack arrived. I could smell her and hear her heartbeat."

"She killed one to save my dad, and I saw the shot to protect Scott."

Scott was staring out the window. "She shot another one that was charging me from behind. I'd just turned and it was dropping, an arrow through its throat." The beta looked from Stiles to Derek. "What does this mean? Is she helping us?"

"I'm not sure that we can assume that yet." Stiles pushed food around his plate with a fork. "I know that you'd like to believe that she was helping us, but she came here to threaten us about getting too strong. She's been watching, but has refused to talk to anybody." He looked at his best friend, wishing that he didn't have to say this, "I think that for now, we just have to wait and see what her next move is."

Stiles knew that despite Scott having dated other girls, even going brain dead over them on occasion, Allison had always been 'the one'. He didn't know what this meant and he didn't want his best friend crushed if Allison turned on them again. He just didn't know how to prevent it.