The birds were chirping and the sun was warm on his face as Stiles slowly returned to reality from his dream state.
He immediately hated the day.
It was weird that things should be so happy when everything was so horrible yesterday. Not just the weather, but also the occurrences in general. Everything that had happened from waking up and being late for school, getting reamed by Finstock, being chased by a rabid werewolf, finding out his mother was alive and had faked her death, to finding out he's a freakin' witch or something weird like that… it was all too much to process for having happened in a single day.
He didn't want to wake up and find out what the sequel was going to be like.
Especially when he knew that it was only a matter of time before he had to look his father in the eye and lie by omission. His father wouldn't be any the wiser that his wife was still alive and had been harboring a huge secret from the both of them for as long as they'd known her. But he knew now, which means that by not telling his dad, he was automatically lying to him even if he didn't realize it. His mother had told him that it wasn't safe to tell his father… but he couldn't stand the idea of lying to him more than he already had been for the last year.
Stiles craned his neck, reaching for his cell phone to check the time. He'd slept 'til mid afternoon. His father's shift had ended half an hour ago, so he was due home any minute. He sighed, ready to thump his phone back down onto the nightstand when it vibrated in his hand. Speak of the devil.
"Hey dad." He said as greeting, biting his lip until it throbbed to keep from blurting everything that had happened yesterday.
"Hey kiddo. I caught a case so I won't be home for awhile. If I'm not home by dinner, use your gas money for food and I'll give you some more when I get home, okay?"
Stiles' chest clenched like it always did when he knew his dad was going off to chase a case. Anything could happen that could prevent his father from coming home. "Okay. Be safe, dad." He tried not to get choked up, knowing this could be their goodbye if something went wrong. "Love you."
"Love you too, son."
And that was it. That was how they finished their call. It was simple enough, but for a cop's kid, it was always the potential final conversation. He hated it. He wondered if as a witch or warlock or whatever it was that Danny had called them, if he could put some sort of… spell on his father to protect him, keep him safe and coming home.
Scrambling out of bed, Stiles headed for the loose floorboard underneath his desk chair. He picked and pried until the wood popped out and he could reach into the hidden cubby to pull out his stash of not-quite-legal police equipment that he'd pilfered from his father over the years.
…419, possible cougar attack, please respond. Again, all units, please respond to the Beacon Hills Preserve, location…
Stiles turned off the scanner, wracking his brain to remember what a 419 was. His breath caught. It was a dead human body… and if they thought it was a possible cougar attack… werewolves. He crawled across the floor clumsily, fumbling for his phone with twitching fingers as he unlocked and scrolled for the one person that could answer his questions right now.
"Stiles Stilinski, I swear to all that's good in this world that if you're calling me with some hare-brained question or scheme…"
"Marjorie!" Stiles interrupted his favorite dispatch woman. "This isn't some crank call. I just need to know that what my dad's going into isn't dangerous."
There was a lengthy pause followed by great sigh heaved on the other end of the call, "Don't worry sweetie. It's another animal attack. We have all the units dispatched and animal control also. Your dad's just there to oversee everything because it's close to the county lines. The caller said that it wasn't a fresh kill, said he was some sort of hunter, so I doubt the cougar's still in the area."
"Thanks Marjorie." Stiles numbly ended the call. He didn't feel any better about the situation.
Keywords had sent his heart racing: animal attack, hunter, cougar. He was taken back to the investigation into Laura Hale's death. This wasn't any standard animal attack. Could it have been Argent? A message from Kate? There were more questions now, which seemed to be the theme of the past twenty four hours.
The doorbell jarred him from his worrying thoughts, confusion replacing the worry almost instantly. It wouldn't be Scott or Derek because they preferred the window. His mother wouldn't be coming because she had promised to give him some space and couldn't know his father's work schedule. He wasn't sure who to be expecting as he slowly went down the stairs.
He definitely wasn't expecting to open the door and find Brenna standing there. She honestly would've been the last person he would've guessed. He might've even put a newly awoken Lydia showing up on his doorstep in a disheveled hospital gown above Brenna. "I thought all werewolves' preferred method of entrance were windows." He said sarcastically, taking in her agitated appearance. "This is about the body in the woods, isn't it?"
She looked surprised momentarily, "Yeah. Derek and Zane were getting rid of it. I wanted to come and warn you. Peter dumped an Omega in Derek's house as a message. I've been sweeping the town for any scent trace of him or his pack and it doesn't seem like they stuck around. He's long gone from town."
A part of Stiles relaxed. "Thanks. My dad's overseeing the investigation. I was worried." He stepped aside to let Brenna in. "Are you okay? You look… affected." He wasn't sure how else to put it. In the months that he'd known Brenna, it had been difficult to get a read on her. She was sort of like Derek in that aspect. Very closed off, never seemed to show too much emotion or reveal too much. She did seem… softer around Stiles though. Almost protective of him.
"You know, you remind me of my brother." She surprised them both by stating that.
"Wow." Stiles didn't know what to say. "Uh… thanks?" She'd never shared anything personal like that with him before.
"I haven't seen him in seven years, since I was… turned." Brenna seemed a bit more hesitant now in the things she was saying, pausing and calculating the words she was speaking. "The pack that turned me is still out there looking for me. It's too dangerous to go and see my family or to stay in one place for too long or to even keep my name."
"I thought Laura was your pack, your Alpha." Stiles responded, sitting himself on the arm of the couch as he listened to the new details of how different werewolves live. Derek still refused to share too much with him because he was human. Though… were witches considered human?
"I chose that." Brenna shared, "I couldn't contribute to her strength though because I'm still bound to the wolf that turned me, same with Zane and his creator. Luckily, the Alpha that turned me can't siphon off my energy if I'm not close to him. The farther I run and stay away from him, the weaker that bond gets."
"You and Zane weren't turned by the same Alpha?" He'd just assumed that their closeness meant that they were pack.
"No. Zane and I found each other not long after I left the pack that took me." She stiffened at the slip of the words and Stiles opted not to question them when she was being so forthcoming with other information. "Speaking of, that's a story for another time, though." She smiled tightly, angling herself towards the door. "I'd better go. I need to go pick Zane up from Derek's."
Stiles stood, following her the short distance to the door, "Hey Brenna?"
"Yeah?" She turned on the porch, indulging Stiles' inquisitive tone.
"Your Alpha… he wasn't a good guy, was he? He was like Peter, right?"
Brenna's whole body seemed to still until she reflexively tightened her hands into fists, the leather of her gloves moving noisily against the encased flesh. "He was much, much worse than Peter, Stiles. There are packs out there that practice laws from centuries ago. Laws that are inhumane and some of the cruelest things that you couldn't even imagine."
Stiles swallowed. Worse than Peter? Much, much worse than Peter? He wasn't sure he'd thought such a thing could exist. "Will you kill him?"
Her smile split her face, adding a deadly edge to her beautiful features. "One day I will."
"And then you'll go back to see your family?" He didn't really want her to leave. He felt safer with her and Zane on their side, knew that where she went so would Zane.
Her smile faded though, "I miss them every day, you know? I know they exist, I know they are out there living their lives and growing… I'm probably an Aunt by now. But you know, that pack is out there, Peter's out there, Kate's out there, hunters in general are out there and I'm, we're all, on their radar simply because I was strong enough, or stupid enough, not to die after being ripped apart by a werewolf. Because of that, I can never, ever see them again. They can't even know I'm still alive. They're safer thinking that I'm dead."
Stiles felt the sadness of her fate settle heavily on his chest. He couldn't imagine never seeing his father again because of the danger he could put him in. But that's what he was doing by existing now – because his mother had neglected to tell him of his so called birthright. It just made him want to get rid of it even more. "Well, I'll be here until you have to move on again. I might not be your actual brother, but I'm just as annoying as one, so…" He let it hang in the air, not sure where he was going with it other than wanting to give her some comfort.
Her breath hitched, body rocking forward and then backward uncertainly for a moment before she reached forward to embrace Stiles. He was surprised, taking a moment before wrapping his arms around her back in return. He's pretty sure it's the first physical contact they've had where it wasn't a life or death situation.
"Thank you." She whispered, pulling away. She looked at him momentarily, longing for her old life – her human life – evident as she tried to give him a small smile. It seemed like Brenna was ready to crack at any moment though, and with a final tight lipped smile, she turned tail and ran to her car. Figuratively on the tail part, though.
Stiles didn't even get to ask her if it was a werewolf thing that said they all had to be so warm that it made his skin itch. Even with Scott. It was kind of annoying.
He was closing the front door when the phone in his pocket went off, tickling his butt cheek like crazy. He thrust forward under the strange vibrations. When he read the screen, he wondered if he was sending out psychic vibes for people to call him. First his dad, now Scott. "Hey bud."
"Dude. Your mother is scary," was the greeting he got from Scott. "She knew I was a werewolf man. How the hell did she know that?"
"It's a long story. One that I'll tell you about later, okay? Yesterday was way too much to deal with. Being chased by werewolves, my mother being alive, finding out that I have some sort of birthright, destiny thing… I need to process."
"Birthright? What the hell?"
"Like I said, later." Stiles began to slowly climb the stairs, intent on getting back into his room and his bed and sleeping the rest of the daylight away. His legs were exhausted and his back ached, energy slipping from him quickly. "Look, I'm more concerned about my dad than my mother being back from the dead, okay? Brenna just told me that Peter dumped a body at Derek's and they had to move it. My dad's at the faux crime scene now."
"Okay, man. We'll deal with your Mom later. I'll go visit my Mom at the hospital and bring her lunch, see if anything's come in about the body. If your dad's there, I'll text you to let you know he's okay."
Stiles was surprised by Scott's initiative, but pleased. "Alright, thanks. Tell her I said hi."
"Hey, we'll figure things out about your Mom and whatever she's said about your birthright, okay?"
"Okay. Later bro." Stiles was hanging up his phone as he entered his room. He was contemplating just face planting into his pillows, but the breeze brushing against his cheeks gave him pause. He hadn't opened his window.
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Brenna had left and she'd said that Peter and his wolves had left too, plus he'd just gotten off the phone with Scott. That only left one person who would visit him through his window who had super hearing and had probably just heard the entire conversation he'd had with Scott, including that his mother was alive.
"Derek." He greeted, opening his eyes to spot the agitated werewolf perched against his computer desk.
This was not going to end well.