A/N: I do not own Teen Wolf.
The pack figured that Isaac and the mysterious boy probably needed some alone time, so they headed back to their respective places of residence. Stiles and Derek remained on the ground floor, giving Isaac some peace and quiet. At least, that's what Derek thought they should do.
The 37th time Stiles poked him, the Alpha gave in. "Fine! I'll go check on them. Just stop touching me!"
Stiles gasped and covered his mouth with his hand in mock horror, "I never thought I'd hear you say that! I mean, not after what we did last-"
The Alpha mate smirked as Derek sped toward the staircase. The man was uninhibited in bed but he couldn't handle talking about it to save his life.
Isaac continued to stroke the boy's hair as he fell asleep. Even then, the boy's grip on his arm didn't loosen.
Derek quietly opened the door and entered the room, moving to stand on the other side of the bed. Isaac nodded his head slightly but otherwise kept his gaze on the sleeping figure.
"Is it true?" Isaac asked, before Derek had a chance to speak. "This boy… he's my mate?"
"You feel a pull to him, don't you? When you first saw him, the only thought running through your head was that you needed to protect him from the rest of us, right?" the Alpha questioned.
"Couldn't that just be because he reminds me so much of me?" Isaac asked. He honestly believed that his seemingly similar past experiences were the reason that he reacted so strangely.
"Isaac. You disobeyed a direct order from your Alpha. The only time a Beta is able to do that is when-"
"-his mate is in danger," Isaac finished, recalling the earlier conversation.
Derek left soon after his conversation with Isaac. The Beta continued to sit on the bed, contemplating what he was supposed to do next. He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the slight tugging on his arm.
His eyes snapped down to the boy, who was watching him with big, scared eyes. Isaac's wolf growled internally; his mate should never feel afraid around him. Only protected and loved. Isaac pushed his wolf back from the surface for now. He still hadn't fully come to terms with the fact that he had actually found his mate.
"Do they hurt?" Isaac asked softly, running his hand lightly over the cuts on the boy's arms. The Beta felt another surge of fear and panic from his mate. He briefly looked around the room, not understanding what was causing such emotions.
"It's okay, you can tell me," he tried again.
"Y-yes sir," came the boy's almost inaudible reply. Isaac's brow furrowed at the use of the term "sir," but ignored it for now, opting instead to alleviate some of the boy's pain. He gripped the injured arm more and closed his eyes as black veins began to shoot up through his arms. The boy gasped but otherwise held still.
"Is that better?" Isaac asked in a slightly strained voice. He could feel just how much pain the boy was in and he didn't like it at all.
"Yes, th-thank you sir."
Isaac frowned again. "Why do you keep calling me 'sir?'" he asked.
The boy's eyes widened and Isaac felt another wave of panic hit him. "I'm s-sorry! D-do you prefer 'm-master?'"
Streams of gold started to flow into Isaac's eyes; he had a feeling he knew where this was going and his wolf was ready to break free, wanting to tear into the monsters that had done this to his mate. He regretted not being the one to kill each and every member of the Hester pack.
He breathed deeply for a few moments and tried to regain his composure when he saw that he was frightening the boy even more.
"It's just Isaac. You don't need to call anyone 'sir' or 'master' anymore, okay?"
"B-but sir,"
"Isaac," the Beta reminded the boy gently.
"I-Isaac."
The Beta loved the way his name sounded coming from the boy.
"What's your name?"
The boy paused for a moment, as if he actually had to think about the answer.
"I don't know," he replied, a single tear streaking down his face. Isaac quickly moved to wipe the tear away. He continued to look at the boy, not knowing how to respond.
"A-after I was taken, I was only called 's-slave.'"
Isaac was unable to hold back the low, rumbling growl that escaped at the boy's words. The boy visibly tensed up and the Beta could feel the waves of fear coming off of him. His growl quickly turned into a low whine as he reached his arms out. The boy didn't move any closer, but his apprehension subsided.
"What was your name before you were taken?" Isaac asked is a quiet voice, so as not to scare the boy any further.
"I don't r-remember."
"Well, what would you like to be called?"
"Matthew," he answered without hesitation.
"Why?" Isaac couldn't help but wonder.
The boy's eyes glazed over as he drifted off into a memory.
The boy was kept in a cage in the corner of a dimly lit room. As far as he was concerned, the cage was his home and safe haven. He dreaded the daily arrival of the "beasts" and their vile plans for him. It had been years since he'd had human contact. He wondered if he would even remember how to speak.
The beasts came in early today, and the boy cowered against the corner of the cage. One of the men simply smirked at the boy and told him that he "wasn't on the menu today."
The boy watched as they brought in another cage that contained the beaten and bruised body of a man who appeared to be in his late twenties; he couldn't make out any specific features in the dark room. The men left after unceremoniously tossing the cage next to the boy's.
The boy simply watched and waited for the man to regain consciousness. Hours passed before the man finally began to stir.
"A-are you okay?" the boy asked. He could barely understand his own speech; he was not allowed to speak in the presence of his "masters" and hadn't had anyone else to speak to in years.
"Where the hell did they bring me?" the man strained to get out, still in obvious pain from his injuries. "Ah, fuck it," he said after struggling to get up and failing. He laid down flat on the bottom of his cage and looked up at the boy.
"Hey. I'll be fine. What's your name?"
"S-slave, sir."
The man chuckled humorlessly.
"Not what they call you. What's your real name? And don't call me 'sir.' Hell, I'd tell you not to call those bastards 'sir' either if I didn't think they'd fuck you up for it."
The boy stared in wonder. He couldn't believe that anyone would dare talk about the beasts in such a way. He actually started to admire the man's strength.
"I don't remember my name anymore," he said, averting his gaze. His real name had long since been erased from his memory; he had been trained only to answer to "Slave" now.
"Damn, well, I won't call you 'slave.' If I had to pick, I'd say you look like a Matthew. How's that name work for ya?"
The boy immediately liked the name, though he probably would have liked anything at that point. He nodded his head in agreement.
The man smiled. "Well Matthew, nice to meet ya. My name's Eric."
At that moment, the door to their room was shoved open violently. The men came storming angrily toward their cages and-
"-thew? Matthew!"
Isaac's panicked voice drew the boy out of his memory. The Beta's grip was firm on his wrist and his eyes were almost fully golden.
"I'm sorry!" the boy said quickly, fear starting to work its way back into his sense.
"Hey, no, I'm sorry, it's okay, I thought I lost you for a minute there." Isaac said, running his hand up and down the boy's arm in what he hoped was a soothing gesture.
The boy quickly remembered what he and the wolf were talking about.
"I-I would like to be called Matthew, if that is okay with you?" he asked meekly. The boy was on the verge of tears at the thought of having his name preference rejected.
Instead of answering, Isaac pulled the boy into a tight hug. The boy was surprised at first, but quickly relaxed into the Beta's embrace. He didn't understand why he felt so comfortable in this stranger's arms, but he wasn't going to question it.
They stayed in that position for a few minutes before Isaac spoke.
"If that's the name you want, then that's fine with me, Matthew," he whispered.
Anything you want is fine with me.
