CHAPTER SUMMARY: Derek believed that Stiles went missing with his dad. It was all a hoax but Derek is too paranoid about the pack's safety even more so to Stiles since there is a threat in Beacon Hills. Meanwhile, the Stilinskis are preparing for the start of the cold season.
Chapter Three
EQUINOX
A werewolf's feelings are more animalistic and instinctual. Having humans in a pack keeps the werewolves have a hold in their humanity. It is one of the few reasons why Derek easily kept Stiles, Lydia, and Allison in the pack. They are still humans. It makes decision making as a pack more democratic rather than autocratic that the alpha is in charge of everything. It makes the werewolves anchored in their humanity during the full moon or in very intense situations. Derek and Scott don't want to be authoritarian in their pack. Everyone has a say so in the things that needed to be discussed and openly debated as long no harsh words are exchanged. Even though, the one who usually bickers a lot is Derek and Stiles.
Peter noticed that his nephew is taking too much time for obsessing his observations about Stiles. He has to admit now that there is a different tinge in Stiles presence now and even he doesn't know about it. He noticed more of Derek's compulsive solving and thinking about Stiles a little bit too much. Until, it clicked on him. Peter has a theory on why Derek is acting so obsessive and curious about Stiles. It already happened to him before and that's why he knows about it. Derek was thought about this but considering after everything what just happened in his life and the trauma it caused him, he might just have forgot about it. Peter wanted to wait until Derek made his move and realize why he is currently obsessing Stiles.
"Stop thinking about Stiles, Derek." Peter said.
"I'm not thinking about him." Derek said with a scowl. Peter just raised his eyebrows the way Hales do and silently judged Derek that he was lying even though it didn't seem like it.
During the autumnal equinox, the Stilinskis gain their powers of winter. Their powers are present the whole year but it is strongest at the start of autumn and ends with the spring equinox and the lowest at the summer solstice and the highest on the winter solstice.
Sheriff Stilinski and Cas are preparing the whole house. They were laying a mixture of pine and holly ash around the perimeter of the house. The Pine and Holly helps to contain magic the Stilinski family held. They wouldn't want another incident that happened when Stiles' mother, Claudia, died a few years ago.
It was the first time that Claudia wasn't around for winter. Stiles was being emotionally unstable inside but on the outside Stiles projected a rather calm and sad demeanor. Scott did his best to make Stiles happy though. One night, Stiles accidentally set off the whole inside of the house into a winter wonderland for a few days. It was snowing everywhere. The Sheriff called his entire family to help calm Stiles and reduce the snowing. Every time they tried to make the snow disappear, it will just appear on the next morning the same as ever. After a week or so, Stiles calmed down enough and his uncles can finally de-snow the whole house.
According to Ladislaus, Stiles' accidental release of magic is quite powerful yet contained. He could have drowned the whole Pacific Northwest in a foot of snow. After the short incident, Stiles begin extensively learning the art of winter from his dad, uncles, and grandfather. He advanced exceptionally well for his age and has helped his dad manage the winter time. It takes off his mind off the death of his mother.
One of the things that Ladislaus suggested to Stiles is to find himself an anchor. Like in ships, an anchor that would make the ship stays still in the middle of the sea. It's an anchor that would keep him down on his feet every time when he felt to unleash his magic unexpectedly. For most of his life, Stiles has Scott and his dad as his anchor but things changed so quickly when he was thrown in the other supernatural dimension of the town he lives in.
"Stiles!" The Sheriff called out.
"I'm coming dad! I'm just getting the boots on." Stiles said aloud. He did not know but Derek was there on the roof of the Stilinski House silently brooding and observing Stiles' movements. The creeper werewolf returns. When he heard Stiles is wearing boots, Derek got a curious look. He never saw Stiles wear anything except sneakers. Derek's mind rush as the thought of Stiles wearing boots and a leather jacket excited him or preferably his leather jacket. He shook his head off this idea and concentrated on the voices in the house. Derek started to flutter his eyes. He is getting sleepy and started to snooze. This is partly because he spends much of his time working, overseeing the renovation of the house and the pack and the most important thing on his mind, observing and stalking Stiles.
Derek heard Stiles coming down the stairs from his bedroom.
"You ready for this one?" The Sheriff asked his son.
"Yeah, I'm good." Stiles replied. The Sheriff held out his hand and took Stiles' hand and they disappeared from the house silently.
He felt the two Stilinskis disappeared without a trace. He forgot that he was standing on top of the roof of the house and accidentally feel. He fell to the ground with a resounding thud. Thank God for werewolf healing abilities. Derek stood up, panicking. There was no heart beat inside the house. There was no presence of two living persons inside the house. How is it possible? The two cars are still on the driveway. Derek would have noticed if the two left the house but they're gone. He didn't know what to do so he left to find Scott and held an emergency meeting at the loft quickly.
They were in the northern range of the Sierra Nevada. John and Stiles were lowering down the temperature and the season of the cold weather creeps in. Stiles started to cast off some strong cold breezes to the south and west to start of the cold weather. John did the same thing but his was to the east and north.
Stiles always enjoys this father-son moments. It rather hit him late and he just realized it just now after all that time spending with werewolves. It is no wonder that when he told his dad about him running with the werewolves, he wasn't shocked at all. He didn't have the hard time to believe that werewolves existed. He just realized that he himself is of the supernatural kind. It was just a different category than Derek and the pack.
The one thing Stiles loves about his powers is making snow. He likes it when it snows and sees children playing around the snow, enjoying themselves. He even uses this advantage to beat Scott and their playmates in a game of snowball. Stiles always have the upper hand in them.
With a wave of his hand, he shot it upwards and made the cold air touch the higher atmosphere making it snow. The snow fell to the ground as a light fluffy white stuff. Stiles smiled and John just shook his head off. There a genuine delight on Stiles' face.
"What do you mean 'he's gone'?" Scott asked. They practically don't understand why Derek is all so worried. Well, they should be worried if Stiles is missing. But all of them don't comprehend what Derek is saying.
"He just vanished out of thin air." Derek said again. He is getting frustrated that none of his pack seemed to be at least concerned about it or Derek is just over reacting to the situation.
"You said you fall from the roof." Lydia said to him. The other betas giggled with delight about their alpha falling stupidly on rooftops. Derek growled on their direction.
"Didn't it occur to you that you might just have hit your head hard and you were dozing off and that's why you fell." Lydia said again. "And you took off before inspecting the house if they're actually gone."
Lydia has a point since that way late in the night and Derek was actually tired. Derek maybe just imagined things that Stiles and the Sheriff disappeared out of thin air. Although he need to have proof, he told them that the cars are still in the drive way.
The only concrete evidence that they have that Stiles is actually and probably missing is that he isn't answering his phone. Scott and Derek called him a few times (Derek more than Scott) and Lydia as well. All of them sent messages except for Boyd who rarely texts anyone.
The pack drove to the Stilinski household and the sheriff's car is gone. The jeep is still on the drive way though. There was no one in the house and Derek was so sure that Stiles and the Sheriff vanished in thin air before he left. There is confusion within the pack. Is there Derek going insane?
A few minutes passed, the Sheriff's car came in to the drive way with Stiles on board. Everyone looked relieved as the car parked. They were waiting for Stiles. Stiles got out of the car with bags of food in their arms.
"Why are you all here?" Stiles asked. "Is it my turn for a movie night?" He asked quickly.
Derek, who was standing in front of the house when Stiles arrived, ran in a bee line to Stiles. He completely shoved the others into the side more harshly than he expected. The werewolves growled at him. The Sheriff walked to the door with a raised eyebrow why they are there in the first place. He took a last glance on them and headed inside.
Derek surveyed Stiles from head to foot. His eyes pried on Stiles like a scanner. He is not used to Stiles wearing such thing. It is not the nerdy and dorky look that he felt in love with. It is odd and weird seeing Stiles like that. A plain white v-neck shirt, denim blue wash jeans, black leather boots, and a leather jacket—this is not what Stiles usually wears; although, Lydia is impressed on Stiles' fashion choice. But Derek has to admit, he is impressed on how Stiles is looking good in the outfit. Derek's wolf approved Stiles' choice of clothes; mainly because it nearly matches Derek's style. The only thing he doesn't approve of is the leather jacket he is wearing. The smell of the jacket is definitely Stiles but Derek wanted his own leather jacket to be on Stiles.
"What? I looked stupid, aren't I?" Stiles asked quickly when no one said something and everyone was looking into a very different person.
"No, you look awesome." Lydia said but it was drowned at the same time with Derek's questioning.
"Where have you been?" Derek asked with a growling tone. It was louder than he expected it to be. "You haven't answering your phone."
"I went to my uncle's house. It's his birthday. And I forgot my phone." Stiles said. The werewolves didn't hint the lie underneath it. It is true that they went to his uncle's house to have a big sumptuous dinner but it is not his birthday. It was their family's celebration for the start of autumn.
Derek feels frustrated. The wolf is screaming inside of him to know. He just wanted to know. He desperately needs to know what Stiles is up. He knows he is hiding something. It is his basic instinct and intuition that he knows Stiles is hiding something.
"And if you don't mind I need to get this inside." Stiles gestured the bags of take home food they got in the party. Stiles walked passed Derek and smiled at the rest of them.
"Could we go now?" Jackson asked after Stiles got inside of the house. He didn't close the front door knowing they'll follow him inside. The pack was waiting for Derek to answer.
"Yeah" Derek nodded and they all quickly dispersed off. Jackson will drop off Lydia and Erica while Allison got Scott and Boyd. For a while Derek just stood there waiting. He wanted to go inside but he doesn't want to as well. There are conflicting feelings inside of him.
Stiles peaked from the door. "Where did everybody go?"
"Home" Derek said still looking at Stiles.
"Are you going home or are you going to stand there or are you going inside of the house?" Stiles asked. Derek's ears perked up when he heard Stiles inviting him in. Derek stood there for a moment before deciding to inside the Stilinski household.
Derek followed Stiles into his room. Stiles took off his boots and leather jacket. He changed into his sweatpants. Derek just stood there and sat in empty chair. He crossed his arms with a broody expression. Stiles grabbed his phone and looked at it. There were a lot of messages and calls from the pack. They were searching for him and believing he was gone missing, kidnapped by some supernatural force or worse the Alpha pack.
"Okay, let me have it." Stiles said to Derek after flopping down to the bed.
"What?" Derek said annoyingly. He doesn't understand what Stiles meant.
"This is the part where you're going yell me for not telling you where I am and for not going to the pack meeting and making you all worried that I was gone without telling anyone." Stiles straightforwardly said. Derek was shock. It was not that at all.
"No, it's just… just… just don't forget your phone when you go out. I… we thought you were kidnapped or something." Derek said, stammering a little. It was rather in a calmly tone than Stiles had expected in his mind. Stiles looked at him with wide eyes. He didn't expect that. Derek Hale is worried about Stiles. This is the first time he heard of it after a whole year of dealing with the supernatural.
"Okay" Stiles said unsurely. "Who are you and what have you done with the Derek Hale I know and love?" Derek got his attention on high alert. Stiles said the Derek Hale and love in the same sentence. Stiles wasn't sure why he said that. It came out the wrong way.
"I am just worried about the pack, Stiles. There's an Alpha pack in town whose whereabouts we still don't know. They still haven't made a move yet and I want to keep my pack safe, to keep you safe." Derek said. That was so sweet of him, Stiles thought. He considered him as part of the pack. He never admitted it really but now this is just a new version of Derek Hale—Derek Hale 2.0. It's a new version that he actually likes and weirded out a little.
Derek stayed there for a little while and then left. Stiles showed him to the door and he was out. He actually used the door this time. Derek waited till Stiles fell asleep before going out on his way even Stiles noticed this. Stiles just needed to be subtle about his "sudden" disappearances from the pack.