Stiles ignored everyone over the weekend. He had shut his phone off after he managed to crawl beneath the covers on his bed that Friday night and immediately shut himself off from the world. He told his dad he was just sick, and in all honesty he was. He wanted to throw up, he couldn't eat, he didn't even want to speak, and his body just felt so run down that he only moved when he had to go to the bathroom. He had locked his window just in case, forcing any of the pack members who showed up to use the front door where Sheriff Stilinski immediately turned them away. Even Scott.
Sure, he was acting like a love-sick teenager, but he literally felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest. This was ten times worse than when Lydia kissed Jackson that day Stiles hit him with his jeep. Stiles' mind was blank, his eyes staring miles away through the wall as he curled around a pillow and tucked himself beneath his sheets. Hell, even the sun hurt. He had cried most of Saturday, but now at the end of Sunday he just felt like he wanted to rip his soul from his body. His homework for History was abandoned on the floor, his Chemistry test long forgotten.
Suddenly Monday had come around. Stiles' dad had come in earlier that morning asking if he wanted to be called in from school, but Stiles shook his head. He had to go. He didn't want to freak everyone out by not showing up to school after the isolated weekend he's had. Besides, Stiles was good at forcing a smile. Years of practice after his mom died, you know?
Stiles got to school as late as possible, the hallways basically empty by the time he reached his locker. Where, sure enough, Scott and Ellie were waiting. "Mornin'," Stiles smiled before burying his stuff in his locker.
"Feeling better?" Ellie snorted.
"Much actually. Food poisoning sucks, you know?" Stiles said, face still hidden behind his locker door.
"Food poisoning, that's the excuse you're going with?" Scott questioned, arms crossed.
"Awesome, isn't it?" Stiles said before slamming his locker, maybe a little too hard. Stiles knew they were worried, but he didn't want their help. "Don't we have a chemistry test to take?"
"One you didn't study for! I came to your house twice in hopes of helping you study," Ellie sighed.
"Sorry, I just didn't want anyone to get sick. It was really bad you guys," Stiles attempted as he walked straight to their classroom.
"Uh huh," Ellie grunted, Scott sighing in agreement.
Stiles was so not prepared for this test. For school. For people. Almost as soon as they sat down their teacher was handing out the test and panic began to settle low in Stiles' stomach as the equations on the paper in front of him began to run together. No. He couldn't do this. Not today. He didn't want to be here. Anywhere but here. The tears began to well before he could stop them, his hand gripping too tightly around his pencil.
Suddenly Ellie's hand was on his shoulder, squeezing tightly. "Stiles?" she called softly with that damn perfect voice of hers. The voice she calls to Derek with. Calls his name out when they're alone.
Stiles was up and running in minutes. He abandoned his pencil, snatched up his back pack, and bolted from the room. His head was beginning to go fuzzy and he was barely able to find his locker in time. As soon as he slammed his back pack inside, he heard Ellie calling him. No-please-not her. Anyone else but her. The damn Alpha Pack for all Stiles cared, just not her. Not the stupid girl he couldn't grow to hate because she was so God damn perfect. Perfect for the pack. Perfect for Derek. He knew it was stupid but he walked away from her. "Not now, Ellie," his voice cracked.
But she kept following her. "Stiles-Stiles stop," Ellie asked. She was still behind him forcing Stiles' pace to quicken. He was running now, damn near a full blown sprint through the halls, through the gym, and out onto the Lacrosse field. Ellie was right on his heels though, he could hear her foot steps synchronized with his. Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he gasped for breath that wouldn't come. His head hurt, his body ached, and finally he couldn't run anymore.
When he collapsed to his knees in the grass, Ellie was right there holding him up. "Stiles please, I need you to breathe, ok? In through your nose out through your mouth. Stiles, God dammit, breathe!" she pleaded as she cupped his face, forcing him to look at her. His cheeks were soaked, his eyes were puffy, and his lungs burned, but by some miracle he obeyed and began to take in slow steady breaths. It was damn near impossible, and he immediately wanted to go back to suffocating. Slowly though, with Ellie's thumb brushing his cheeks dry, he managed to refocus his eyes. "Stiles?" Ellie whispered after a few minutes, after his heart had stopped attempting to explode. "Please, tell me what's happening. Just-please. I want to know, I want to help you."
"Take care of him," Stiles burst out, voice rough and ragged. He couldn't stop them, the words waterfalling from his mouth. "He's been through a lot of-of shit and he just-he just needs someone to hug him. To tell him it's ok, that he's a great alpha. He needs someone to ground him, someone he can turn to when he-when he doesn't have anyone else to go to. You're the perfect person for that, Ellie. You ground him. So please-please promise me you'll be a great mate for him. Ok? He'll have you. He'll love you, so just-don't let him fall."
Ellie's brows immediately furrowed as she searched his face in confusion. "Stiles, what are you talking about?"
"You and Derek," Stiles whispered, voice tight as the tears began to well against the memories flashing through his head. The memories that had haunted him all weekend.
"Of course I will take care of him, Derek's my big brother, but-"Ellie's lips twitched up into a smile as her thumbs brushed lightly across Stiles' cheek bones,"-Stiles, I'm not Derek's mate."
Stiles stared at her in horror, heart skipping a few beats. "You're-you're not-oh."
Everything went black.
When Stiles woke up again he was in his bed, sheets curled up around him, and head buried in his pillow. His head ached, and his body felt like jelly when he attempted to move. It took a few minutes for the memories of what had happened to click, the lacross field, Ellie, stupid confessions, but how did he end up back home?
"You fainted," Ellie suddenly called from his desk. She was seated facing him, legs Indian style beneath her, her elbows resting on her knees as her hand cupped her chin. "Scott finally caught up to us on the field and went for help. Your dad came to pick you up after the nurse decided you had fainted from a high fever. You've been sleeping for almost six hours now."
"How-how did you get in here?" Stiles winced as he forced himself to sit up, pressing his back into his pillows.
"The front door," Ellie grinned. "I'm not sure what everyone's obsession is with your window. Your dad's actually a really nice guy."
Stiles couldn't help but snort, a smile tugging at his lips. "That's my dad for you. All Sheriff Stilinski until you get on his good side. You don't have a criminal background like half of the pack, so I think you passed his inspection."
The room fell into silence then, Ellie's focus zeroing in on the rug in the middle of the floor. Stiles had exploded on her, he knew that. Every painful thought running through his broken heart and destroyed brain had slipped through his lips like water. He couldn't stop it, but now he felt guilty about pouring all of that onto her. It was too much pressure to put on someone you only met two weeks ago. "E-Ellie, I-"
"You really like him, don't you?" Ellie asked, eyes shining bright. All Stiles could do was nod as his eyes fell to his hands, fingers twining with the sheets nervously. At her soft laugh, Stiles stared at her. "I saw it, you know. Faint at first, but I knew you liked him a lot more than you were leading on. The way you'd stare just a bit too long, the way your face would flush at his touch, or even how your heart would race just hearing him call your name. You were safe about it though, made sure nobody would see it unless they were looking for it."
"So you're really not Derek's mate," Stiles asked softly.
Ellie shook her head. "No. I love Derek, very much, but I knew I was never going to be his mate. He needs that little something special, something I would never be able to give to him."
"Emmett's your mate, isn't he? That's why you followed him here to Beacon Hills, why he was so angry you chose us over him," Stiles asked. When Ellie nodded, Stiles frowned. "I'm sorry he tried to rip your throat out."
Ellie shrugged as she managed a faint smile. "Yeah, me too. I mean, I love Emmett, I do, but he only sees red right now. All he wants is the Argent's blood filling the streets and that's it. All I am now is a soldier that's getting in his way," she whispered. "But I can't let my love for him stop me. I know what's right, and right now I know that's helping Derek stop Emmett and that Alpha Pack. No matter the cost."
She went silent for a few moments after that before she suddenly stood from her chair and settled gently on the edge of the bed next to Stiles. She grasped his hand tightly between hers, thumb brushing across his wrist; she was so warm, despite how small her hands actually were. "I never meant to make you believe that Derek and I were mates, I swear," she muttered.
Stiles managed a smile as he gave her hands a squeeze. "I know Ellie. Didn't matter anyway, there's no way I could hate you, even if I wanted. You're just-you're just too you with your smile, and your stories, and your awesome car. The pack's just grown ever since you showed up to Beacon Hills."
Ellie nodded as she freed one of her hands to cup Stiles cheek. "Everything's going to be alright, I promise you."
"Thanks, Ellie," Stiles smiled.
"I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" Ellie smiled as she stood and made her way for the door. As soon as she stepped into the hallway she peeked her head back inside. "I talked to our chemistry teacher by the way and told him you'd been physically ill all weekend. He said it would be ok if you retook the test Friday."
Stiles couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks, Ellie. You'll be around to tutor me right?"
"I think I can manage to stick around long enough for that," Ellie grinned. With a final wave, she closed the door behind her and disappeared down the hallway.
Stiles let the silence of the room soak him up as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth. Derek and Ellie weren't mates. They weren't together. They weren't in love, not the way Stiles had thought. Their last encounter however, the way Derek backed up after saying Stiles name, after hearing Stiles' heart race-what did that mean? Then again, just because he wasn't with Ellie didn't mean he wanted to be with Stiles.
Stiles' body slowly settled back into normalcy. His appetite had come back, thank everything left holy, but Stiles' chest still ached. He couldn't help it. He never told the pack what had happened, and Ellie merely backed up his story of food poisoning at the pack meeting the next night. On Thursday during lunch, Ellie plopped down next to Stiles at their usual table to help him study for his chemistry test. The pack meetings had picked back up every night making it difficult to get just his homework finished let alone study for a test. So, being the whiz she is, Ellie volunteered to help him during lunch. Jackson and Lydia wandered by at the start of lunch only to tell them they were ditching the rest of the day to go out to a movie. Thankfully not the Notebook. Stiles couldn't blame them. Scott showed up a few minutes later, Erica and Isaac in toe.
"Where's Boyd?" Stiles asked.
"Group project for his Spanish class. He'll meet up with us after school," Isaac explained before plopping down next to Scott. "How's chemistry going?"
"This is stupid. I like math, those equations actually make sense! But these-these look like Einstein threw up all over the damn page," Stiles snorted. "Stupid book."
"Quit your whining, you're doing fine," Ellie muttered, poking him with the eraser of her pencil.
The table settled down into the usual conversations after that. Ellie pointed out Stiles mistakes through cheek-fulls of macaroni, Isaac and Scott talked about Lacrosse while Erica applied lip gloss and filed her nails, occasionally popping in a topic for the boys to discuss. Stiles had begun to think she enjoyed listening to conversations more than being apart of them. Kept her mind busy.
As lunch began to wind down, the cafeteria slowly becoming abandoned as students headed to their next classes, Ellie's head sharply perked up. Stiles caught the sudden movement out of his peripheral and glanced up at her. "Ellie, you ok?" he questioned.
This caught the attention of the rest of the table who stopped their conversation to look over at Ellie. Ellie was sniffing the air lightly before suddenly her eyes flashed blue. She was on her feet in seconds, jumping the table before quickly running to the main doors of the cafeteria. When Stiles followed her target of movement, his jaw dropped; Derek was limping towards them, arm grasping his thigh tightly just above a large glowing wound. Stiles immediately recognized it as wolfsbane, just like the bullet Kate Argent struck him with two years ago. Stiles immediately ran to help, throwing Derek's other arm over his shoulder as he helped Ellie walk him to the table. "What happened?" Isaac questioned.
Derek winced as he was settled at their table, his eyes quickly darting around the room where some of the straggling students were watching them curiously just before disappearing out the doors. "Isaac, the doors," Derek panted, Isaac quickly running to close the double doors of the cafeteria.
"Derek, what did you do?" Stiles gaped at the blood soaked spot in his jeans.
Ellie's eyes immediately narrowed. "You went, didn't you? After everything we discussed last night you still went!" Ellie exclaimed.
"Shut up, Ellie," Derek hissed.
"Went where?" Erica questioned.
Derek glared at Ellie, but she merely snorted in response. "Emmett called him out," she responded.
Scott, Isaac, and Erica all gasped, Stiles staring at them all in confusion. "What the hell were you thinking?" Erica snapped.
"Wait, what does that mean? 'Called him out'?" Stiles asked.
"It's an alpha thing. The leader of a pack calls on the alpha of the other and they have a talk out. Emmett wanted to convince Derek to fight with the Argents. Derek wanted to go thinking he could convince Emmett to back off and leave," Ellie growled.
"Derek, Ellie couldn't even convince him to stop. When she tried he attempted to rip her to shreds for it," Stiles reminded him.
"I know, but it didn't hurt to try," Derek grumbled through clenched teeth. "Besides, I was barely in the woods five minutes with him when we were ambushed."
"Argents," Isaac muttered, Derek nodding.
"Which means this glowing is wolfsbane, a famous Argent bullet," Stiles said.
"Erica, take Scott and retrieve the first aid kit from the nurse's office, but don't be seen," Ellie warned.
"No problem," Erica winked before taking off, Scott on her heels.
"Isaac, you're coming with me. I have something that might help with this, but it's in my bag in my locker," Ellie said, Isaac nodding. "And Stiles, stay here and keep Derek awake. Do not let him pass out."
Stiles' eyes widened as his jaw dropped. "I-me?"
Ellie simply nodded before glaring at Derek. "You try and die on us I will personally bring you back and kill you again, got it?" she snapped, Derek rolling his eyes.
With that she followed Isaac out of the cafeteria before disappearing down the hall. Stiles stared at the entryway for a few seconds too long before survival mode kicked in. He quickly stood to his feet before beginning to unbutton his shirt. Derek was watching him, brows furrowed in confusion. "What-what are you doing?" he panted.
Stiles ignored him however and once he was free of the shirt he wrapped it around the wound before tying it off, ignoring Derek's snarls. "I want to slow the bleeding, that way Ellie won't have to worry about it when she returns," he explained.
Derek was attempting to even his breathing, but he was watching Stiles intently. "Th-thanks."
Stiles merely shrugged. "No big deal," he half smiled. As the seconds began to tick by, Stiles realized Derek's eyes were rolling back, his body beginning to fall forward. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Derek, come on man you've got to stay awake," Stiles called as he quickly rose back to his feet and grabbed the alpha's face in his hands.
"I-so tired," Derek whispered as he closed his eyes.
"Dude, talk to me. You have to stay awake, alright? Who knows how much blood you lost on your way here. You probably walked here like the idiot you are instead of driving that damn car. Why do you even have it? You run everywhere!" Stiles demanded. When Derek's eyes still didn't open, Stiles grumbled. "I will punch you again, don't think I won't!"
Derek growled low in his throat as he forced open one eye. "Don't you dare.
Stiles grinned. "Then you better stay awake, sour wolf," he said. Needing to keep the conversation going, Stiles cleared his throat. "Who shot you?"
Derek shook his head as he pressed the weight of his head into Stiles' grasp. Stiles couldn't help but smile faintly as he brushed his thumbs against the stubble of Derek's cheeks. "I'm not-I'm not sure. As soon as they opened fire Emmett lunged at me. Chris Argent was there, Allison too, but they brought a lot of back up. Could have been any of them."
"Doesn't surprise me. She's become her family's little guard dog," Stiles muttered darkly.
Stiles' heart jumped when Derek's bloodied hand lifted to press Stiles' right hand deeper into his skin, his eyes closing as he attempted to take a few breaths. "I'm just glad no one-no one was with me. Emmett lost a few men, but he managed to take down a few of Chris' in the process. It was just-just a massacre."
"Was Allison hit do you think?" Stiles questioned. Sure, he hated what Allison had become, but he was friends with her once.
"Allison was there?! Ellie suddenly exclaimed. She was standing in the doorway, backpack in hand, eyes glowing bright blue. "I'm going to rip her fucking skull apart."
"Down killer," Derek snorted as he dropped his hand, Stiles standing back.
Ellie snarled before storming over to him and dropping to her knees. Grumbling the entire time, she removed Stiles' makeshift bandage before using a claw to cut out the square of fabric around the wound, removing it sharply and earning her a snarl. "Oh don't be a baby," she fired back. She rummaged through her bag before pulling out a wet cloth, attempting to wipe up what blood she dared touch.
"We've got the kit," Erica called from behind them, white box in hand.
"Good, bring it over her and find a pair of gloves," Ellie asked. After tossing the now bloodied cloth aside, she dug through her bag once more before pulling out a black velvet bag which she immediately held out to Stiles. "Here."
"What is this?" Stiles questioned. As he opened the bag, he found a corked off vile filled with a purple liquid waiting inside.
"It's an antidote, but you have to rub it into his wound," Ellie explained, taking the gloves Erica handed her and giving them to Stiles.
"An antidote?" Derek questioned weakly.
"Why do I have to do it?" Stiles frowned.
"Because it's a wolfsbane extract mix," Ellie said. At Stiles' still confused look, she glowered at him. "You're in a room full of werewolves Stiles, do the math here!"
"Fine!" Stiles exclaimed as he pulled the gloves on. When he kneeled down, vile in hand, he glanced up at Derek with a frown. "S-sorry about this."
"Just do it," Derek said, jaw clenched as his claws dug into the table.
Stiles took a deep breath in before popping the cork from the vile. After counting to three in his head, he dumped the contents over the bullet hole. Immediately it began to sizzle, Stiles quickly rubbing the liquid into his skin. Derek's eyes flashed red, his back arching as he made a move to roar out, but Ellie clamped her hands over his mouth, Isaac gripping his shoulders as Derek grasped Stiles' shoulder painfully. Stiles grabbed Derek's thigh hoping to keep him grounded as he watched the liquid soak up into the wound. "Hang on, Derek," Stiles called as his other hand moved to tighten around his knee. Derek was attempting to take deep breaths, eyes staring up into the ceiling. Finally, after a few seconds, the red in his eyes faded away and the wound slowly sealed up. "Well, that worked better than expected."
"Where did you get that?" Derek panted as Isaac and Ellie stepped back from the table.
Ellie gently lifted the now empty vile from where Stiles had dropped it onto the bench. "Grandma came up with the recipe years ago. Remember how we weren't allowed in the basement? She gave Emmett and me each a vile a few years ago, and I've been carrying it around ever since."
"Do you know how to make it?" Erica asked. When Ellie nodded, Erica snatched the vile from her hand. "Well then why don't you make more?"
"Because you need werewolf blood to finish the spell," Ellie muttered. When Erica made a motion to point out the fact they were in a cafeteria full of werewolves, Ellie glared at her. "A freshly dead werewolf, Erica."
The blonde went silent at this. Derek stood, Stiles grasping his side when he wavered. "We need to get you home, stupid alpha," Ellie grumbled as she threw her bag across her chest before pulling Derek's arm around her shoulders and tightening her other arm around his waist. Her attention then lifted to Stiles. "Come by my house tonight and I'll help you study some more."
Stiles swore he saw her wink. He nodded stiffly before Ellie made her way out of the cafeteria. Erica grumbled from somewhere to Stiles' left as she crossed her arms. "Our alpha is going to put us in an early grave, I swear it."
As soon as Stiles got home, his nerves began to jumble. Ellie's wink still wasn't settling right with him; what was that girl up to? He barely managed to get through his math homework, his English essay looking more like a third grader had attempted it by the time he was done. Finally deciding he couldn't stand it anymore, he changed his shirt, grabbed his back pack, and hopped into his jeep. His dad had come home earlier, but after hearing Stiles was going to study, he headed back to pick up another night shift. Stiles felt bad, but at the same time he was anxious. Excited. Nervous as hell.
When he pulled up Derek's Camaro was gone, Stiles immediately frowning. Well, this wasn't what he was expecting. He grabbed his back pack, a little less pep in his step as he locked up the jeep before knocking on Ellie's oak door. So much for dressing to impress, eh? When the door opened, Derek staring down at him, his face immediately flushed. "Hey," he half waved before shoving his hands in his pockets.
Derek gave him a head nod before motioning for him to come in. "She's making a mess of the kitchen," Derek mumbled.
"What is she cooking now?" Stiles questioned curiously as he dropped his bag in the sitting room.
"I don't think she even knows," Derek said before returning to the kitchen, Stiles on his heels.
When they walked into the kitchen Stiles found Ellie hunched over the stove, stirring three pots with the same wooden spoon. She quickly smiled back at Stiles before returning to her pots. "Hi Stiles, sorry I haven't finished dinner yet," Ellie apologized.
"Oh, it's totally ok. Take your time," Stiles said. Derek sat down at the bar, kicking out a chair for Stiles again who quickly dropped down into it. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to make pasta, but the sauce is being difficult," she grumbled.
"Where's Peter?" Stiles asked. "I saw the Camaro was gone and thought you weren't going to be here."
"He's off getting-I don't even want to know what," Derek sighed.
One of the cook books on the table tumbled to the ground, Ellie groaning before she quickly tossed it back onto the counter. "Need any help?" Stiles offered.
Ellie shook her head as she opened the cabinet to her left and began to rummage through what looked like spice bottles. "No, I think I-I think-"her brows furrowed as she stared at the labels of a few glass bottles. Suddenly she let out a long, dramatic groan. "Dammit, I'm out of oregano. Looks like I have to go to the store."
Stiles' eyes widened as she gaped at him; was she serious!? "I-do you want company?"
"Nope!" Ellie smiled as she slipped into her leather jacket after pulling it from the hook. "You two watch my sauces, I'll be back. Don't kill each other!"
Stiles stared at the door even after Ellie disappeared behind it; so this is what she was planning. Invite him over to study so she could take off for the store and leave him alone. With Derek. She was sneaky that one, Stiles would have to keep an eye on her. "Well, that was interesting," Stiles said. Derek said nothing. When Stiles turned to him, he noticed he had changed clothes, his jeans in one piece over where the wound was. "How's the leg?"
"Fine now. I'm just glad she had that vile on her," Derek muttered.
"Tell me about it. I'd rather not have a repeat of a wolfsbane bullet in your body anytime soon, if you don't mind," Stiles grinned. Derek's lips twitched. The air was thick around them, although Stiles didn't know if that was from the steam of the pots or the air just between them. Stiles worried his lip for a few seconds before clearing his throat again. "Derek, I-I'm sorry."
"What? Why are you sorry?" Derek questioned with a raised brow.
Stiles nervously rubbed the back of his head as he forced a nervous chuckle. "I um-I might have thought that you and Ellie-that you were-"
"Spit it out Stiles," Derek prodded.
"I could have possibly jumped to the extreme conclusion that-that Ellie and you were m-mates," Stiles blurted out. Why did his mind think this would be a great conversation to have? Right now? Alone with Derek? Obviously his stupid mouth agreed. When he realized Derek was staring at him wide eyed, mouth slightly gaped, he immediately raised his hands in defense. "Don't kill me! I mean, you two are really close, and I'd never seen you so touchy feely with anyone before, so-how could I not, you know? She made you smile in a way I'd never seen be-before."
Instead of punching Stiles, or slamming his face into the counter like he had expected, Derek laughed. A belly clutching laugh. All Stiles could do was stare as the alpha's face lit up, the smile so wide across his face it was unnatural. Perfect. It took Derek a few moments to regain his composure, his lips releasing into a faint twip of the lips. "When Laura and I were sent to North Carolina, everything was different. Laura was busy learning family secrets while I was training to control the change, how to fight and protect myself. I was alone in that family, an outsider as far as they were concerned. But then, Ellie was there," Derek explained. "She treated me like everyone else, better. She helped me with the changes, helped me control the anger when they poked too hard. Ellie was the first one outside of my family that I trusted, opened up to."
"I can see why," Stiles said, Derek nodding.
"We love each other, neither of us can deny it, but we aren't meant to be each other's mates. I knew as soon as Emmett came into the picture. He had been a fifteen year old omega when Ellie's grandfather brought him in. You could tell just looking at her, how her eyes shined whenever he was there. That was the missing factor Ellie and I had, something that I had been missing with Kate Argent," Derek attempted.
"She was a raging bitch in the end," Stiles growled. "I'm glad there was no sparkling of the eyes there."
Derek laughed again, Stiles unable to hold back his smile. Derek's voice went soft them, bottom lip pulling through his teeth. "When Ellie came to Beacon Hills she said-she said she finally saw that spark in my eyes," he said.
Stiles swore his heart leaped out of his throat and onto the floor. "She-uh-she did?" His mouth was dry, his palms subconsciously wiping against his jeans.
"I was in denial about it, especially before she came along. All of these signs kept popping up around me but I ignored them. Played them off as coincidence. Ellie tried her best to convince me other wise, that this was real, but-I'm scared," Derek muttered. Stiles couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was Derek seriously confessing all of this to him? To Stiles? Stiles Stilinski? The awkwardest kid at school? The human of his little pack? Stiles suddenly realized that Derek was looking at him and-good God his eyes were shining. They were fucking shining! "Stiles, I-"
Stiles was standing them, his fingers curling around the collar of Derek's shirt before he pulled the alpha down into a kiss. It was soft at first, Derek's lips hesitant. Just before Stiles could pull back and have a full blown panic attack however, a rough hand cupped his cheek and pulled him deeper into the kiss. Almost immediately it intensified as Derek's tongue swiped across Stiles' bottom lip, a small unhinging of his jaw allowing a battle of dominance to ensue. It was lips, and teeth, and tongue, and so fucking perfect Stiles would have melted into a little Stilinski puddle at this point if Derek hadn't pinned his waist between his knees.
After a few long, beautiful seconds, Derek pulled away sharply leaving them both panting. "Stiles-Stiles wait," he breathed. He didn't push away though, letting their heads fall together as he attempted to recollect himself. Stiles' hand was still balled up in the collar of his shirt. "I don't-I can't get you involved in something you don't want. It's dangerous being with me, you have to understand that."
Stiles rolled his eyes as he let out a faint laugh. "I was ready to saw your arm off because of a wolfsbane bullet, I held you up in a pool for two hours to keep us away from the kanima, an old man beat the crap out of me because of you, and I hit Jackson with my jeep. At this point, I think I know what I'm getting into being with you," he smirked.
Derek's fingers slid lightly up and down Stiles cheeks, his eyes staring as if he was amazed he could ever do this. "I feel like I'm dreaming," he whispered.
"Trust me, you're not. I've been pinching myself this entire time just in case," Stiles beamed. This earned him a laugh from Derek again; good God Stiles was going to do whatever he could to hear that sound every day.
Derek kissed Stiles again, this time both of them savoring the moment with light pecks. That is until the door slammed open, both whirling around to find Ellie standing in the doorway. Her hands were clasped over her mouth, but Stiles could already tell she was smiling so wide her face was about to split in half, her body bouncing on her heels. "Did I finally witness the long awaited kiss!?" she exclaimed.
Stiles' hand slid into Derek's as their fingers interlaced, his heart fluttering wildly as Derek used his free hand to pull him protectively into his chest. "Maybe," Stiles attempted not to smile.
"I knew it! Oh my God I knew it! My plan totally worked too, I knew it would!" Ellie cheered as she twirled around in the doorway.
"You are an evil, evil child," Derek growled.
Ellie merely stuck her tongue out at him. "It worked didn't it? I knew all you two needed was a little push and then-"
Everything at that moment slid into slow motion as an arrow suddenly pierced through Ellie's side. She let out a roar of pain as she crumpled to her knees, hand grasping the arrow sharply. Eyes glowing blue she stared back out the door only to gasp in horror. "They found us, Derek they found us!"
Derek immediately pulled Stiles to the back door, Ellie scrambling to catch up to them. He threw open the screen before taking off into the night, the sound of another arrow slamming into one of the trees to the right of Stiles. Stiles could still hear Ellie behind them, her pained pants echoing through the darkness. "Faster, Ellie," Derek hissed.
How had the Argents found them? Ellie had been so good at covering her tracks, the entire pack had. She was supposed to be safe here, away from the Alpha Pack and the Argents. But now the Argents were here, and they were out for blood.
A thudding sound haulted Derek to a stop, both of them turning only to find Ellie face down in the leaves, a rope tight around her ankle. She scrambled to free herself, claws out, but another rope laced around her left wrist, and then her right, pinning her tightly against the ground. Stiles noticed the ropes were glowing with a purple light; wolfsbane. "Ellie," Stiles gasped in horror.
When Derek made a move to help her, a bullet exploded in the tree next to him. "Run, get Stiles out of here!" Ellie pleaded. Derek opened his mouth to retaliate, but Ellie let out a high pitched whine that sent him cowering. "Go, now!"
Stiles grabbed Derek's wrist before tugging him back sharply. "Derek, we can't help her. We have to get the rest of the pack. Please, you're no use to her if you're taken too. Come on-come on, DEREK!"
With one swift motion, Derek had Stiles over his shoulder and was running through the trees. All Stiles could do was watch as the Argents moved in on Ellie, their shadows blocking her form from view. The only thing left of her was her snarls of anger echoing through the forest.