The school day is pretty uneventful, though there is some discussion of trolls at lunch. Lydia thinks they were drawn by the Nemeton's being reinvigorated. Allison contends that they may have been drawn by the growing Hale pack or by Scott developing Alpha status. Stiles proposes no ideas but suggests that they discuss something else since they killed half of the trolls and sent the rest running for the hills.
After school, Stiles heads to Deaton's clinic. He'd packed the bundle with him that morning and intended to confront the overly cryptic vet. "Deaton?" Stiles calls upon entering and ringing the bell on the counter.
"I'm with a patient," he calls back. "Please take a seat and I'll be with you shortly." Stiles rolls his eyes, but does as instructed. He reads an article in one of the magazines about how dogs seem to have various kinds of ESP. He's just finishing a section on canine-ghost interactions when Deaton rounds the corner. "What can I help you with, Stiles?"
"What is this?" Stiles demands, flopping the bundle down on the counter.
"Well," Deaton says, looking pensive. "It appears to be a leather pouch of some sort. May I?" He gestures to the strips tying it sealed. Stiles nods and the not-just-a-vet makes quick work of opening the bundle. He looks up, then back at the contents and then settles a possibly concerned gaze on the teen in front of him. "Where did you get this?" he asks solemnly and with a grave urgency to his voice.
"I thought... You didn't put it on my windowsill?" Stiles asks disbelievingly.
"No," Deaton replies quickly. He glances around the room. Moving with clear direction, the man flips the sign and the lock on the door and beckons Stiles toward the back of the shop. "Circumstances require that we proceed ahead of schedule."
"What?" Stiles questions as he follows. Deaton lays the bundle on an empty metal examination table. Quickly retrieving a book from behind a bunch of vet supplies in a cabinet, he opens it to a page and lines it up with the scrap of paper Stiles thought looked like a grocery list. "They match," Stiles breathes.
"Yes," Deaton confirms. "It's ancient Ogham script. It's what the Druids and other practitioners used long ago."
"So..." Stiles draws out. "What? There's another druid in Beacon Hills who wants to teach me magic? That doesn't necessarily sound like a bad thing to me."
Deaton sighs. "No, Stiles. Druids are peaceful and benevolent. That's not what concerns me. I think we probably have a coven in town and their looking to recruit."
"Hold on," Stiles waves, surprised by Deaton's being so forthcoming. "You're saying there's a coven of... of... of what?"
"Witches," Deaton supplies.
"Okay," Stiles nods. "There's a coven of witches. And they want to recruit... Me?"
"Yes."
"Why would they want me?" Stiles interrogates. "I can barely do the mountain ash spells."
"For now," Deaton says. "But covens are like werewolf packs. The more members there are, the stronger each individual, and especially the leader, becomes."
"Okay," Stiles says, nodding and rubbing his hands together. "So, you're going to actually teach me now so I can fight these witches?" he asks hopefully.
"No," Deaton deadpans.
"What?!" Stiles shouts, and dogs start barking in their cages so he lowers his voice when he continues. "But you said we were going to 'proceed ahead of schedule'?"
"Yes. And I told you about Ogham script."
Stiles rubs his temples in exasperation. "That's like... Nothing! What am I even supposed to do with that?"
"Call Derek," Deaton says calmly.
"What?" Stiles head is spinning. He as so sure that Deaton was suddenly just going to start telling things to him straight and stop being so damn enigmatic, but then he flips the switch and he's back to speaking in riddles.
"You need to warn him about the coven so the pack can be prepared," Deaton explains calmly. He wraps the leather bundle up but takes the book with the translations back to his cupboard. "Now, you need to leave. I have patients to tend to."
"Wha- Jus- Wai- Guh!" Stiles throws his arms up, slams them on the metal table, grabs his bundle and huffs out of the vet's office.
He picks up halfway through the first ring. "Stiles," Derek says roughly over the connection. "What's wrong?"
"Calm down, Derek," he says in his best 'you're being a weird idiot' voice. And then he puts on his best 'not a big deal' voice to say, "There's just a coven of witches in town, nbd."
Derek sighs in irritation. "Call the others. Get here. Now."
"Aye-aye, were-cap," Stiles obeys and hangs up to the pleasant sound of snarling.
"So... Witches are a thing?" Kira asks.
"Apparently," Stiles shrugs.
"And they want to recruit you?" Jackson sneers.
"Hey! I'm totally desirable!" Stiles retorts.
"I can think of someone who'd agree with that," Erica comments, earning sharp looks from the other werewolves and confusion from Stiles.
"Enough," Derek growls and everyone hushes. "There's ten of us and we'll need to stay in groups as much as possible."
"Well, that's fine for us," Scott says, "we're all in school together. But what about you?"
"I'll be fine," Derek contends. "Werewolves can't cast magic and they're still recruiting. I'm mostly concerned about Stiles. As well as Lydia, Allison, and Kira."
"Wait, what?" Kira chimes.
"Kitsune can use magic. Not as much as most witches, but you'd probably still be a good addition to their coven. Did your mom not tell you?" Derek asks dubiously.
"Uh, no..." she replies softly. Scott pulls her into his side a little more to comfort her.
"So," Derek continues, "stay close together at school and we'll stay in pairs at night."
"I don't think that's much of an issue," Lydia laughs softly as she gestures to the circle of teens that are mostly already paired off. With one exception.
"Wait," Stiles says, looking around and coming to a certain conclusion. "Ah, come on," he sighs to the ceiling. "What did I do?" he asks the invisible deity causing his endless torture.