Once he was sure that the others were fast asleep, Peter followed Stiles out of town. He found the other man sitting on a fallen tree, reeking of anxiousness.
"Did somebody follow you?" Stiles asked despite the fact that he could grant them some privacy not matter if somebody had followed them or not.
"We are alone," Peter assured him and sat down next to him.
"I figured it out," Stiles started so Peter let him go first. Stiles might burst if he couldn't share what he had figured out. Once he was done explaining, Peter just sat there too stunned to even think about his own issues.
"You want him to turn you?" Peter asked. He had offered Stiles the bite almost a decade ago and he still remembered the look on Stiles' face.
Back then Stiles had been much younger, just a teenager but already with a bright head on his shoulders. In hindsight, Peter was glad that he had rejected him but on the other hand, they would have been an even better team with Stiles being a werewolf. They most likely wouldn't have spent years on the road, helping others, though. As a teenager, Stiles had been full of rage. If he had accepted the bite back then, with Peter still a psychopath spinning out of control, they would have left a trail of bodies all over the country. They were both better now.
However, Stiles had never hinted that he wanted to become a werewolf. Quite the opposite. And now he was willing to take the bite, to throw away his magic for the off chance that it would be enough to make Derek real.
Peter didn't understand magic as Stiles did but he knew the basics. He knew about energy and balance and over the last few days, he had learned a lot more. Stiles' contacts were mostly witches who stayed in the light, maybe a hint of gray here and there but they stayed on the right side, never crossing the line. Most of them had been disgusted by the mere thought of creating life the way Stiles had intended to. One had even called Scott, Stiles' alpha, to stop him from doing something stupid.
Peter's contacts lived in the gray. Some were openly practicing black magic and most of them had blood on their hands. The information he had gotten from them were quite different from what Stiles had gotten. Not that Stiles hadn't known from the very beginning where this was heading.
But somehow Stiles had managed to do the first step without paying the price. Peter was still not convinced that he had actually done it, that Derek was alive enough for it to count, but Stiles was convinced. The price was still high, though, even if they didn't have to kill somebody for Derek's benefit.
They talked about this for over an hour and in the end, Peter had to admit that it was worth a shot.
If Derek wanted to try it. This was Derek's decision, Stiles made that very clear. Stiles had made up his mind, he was willing to risk it, but only if Derek was in as well. He was also prepared to leave everything as it was and make it work like that.
"Fair enough," Peter said.
Biting Stiles was nothing they could do without Derek playing an active role in it so going behind his back was out of question. Of course, Stiles could always order him to do it, he could force him if he really wanted to but it was clear that that was not an option so Peter didn't even bother with bringing it up.
"I'll need your help, afterward," Stiles said quietly.
"I'm here," Peter promised. He had been there for the others, for Boyd and Erica and Isaac when they had become his betas. Not for Scott, though, and sometimes he still felt a pang of guilt over that. Scott had still taken him in when he had needed an alpha and a pack but seeing him now, seeing how Scott treated his best friend, how he dismissed Stiles' feelings and how he thought that he knew better what was good for him than Stiles himself? The way Scott completely refused to even look at Derek? No, Peter didn't feel a hint of remorse for leaving Scott's pack.
"And I thought you would just leave me in the woods to fend for myself." Stiles gave him a smile.
"Tried that, didn't work out." Peter stretched out his legs. "Besides, I like you better than Scott."
"That's a low bar. At the moment Scott is not a likable person, like, I don't like him at all right now and that says something because everybody likes Scott. He's very likable." Stiles nodded to make his point. "But that's not what I meant. I mean after after." He gestured at his neck.
What Stiles meant was that Peter should take Derek and leave.
"I know he's not your alpha but you're the only one I can ask," Stiles said, the words rushing out of his mouth too quickly. "We have to separate, at least for a little while, he needs to become independent. Without me hovering in the background. You're probably the worst choice for this, you're a bad role model and he'll pick up bad habits from you like murder and drinking wine for two-hundred dollars a bottle but …" Stiles made a helpless gesture.
"He is my alpha," Peter blurted out into the lull of Stiles' rant.
"He's your what?"
"Derek is my alpha." It was the first time he had said it out loud and it felt good. Right.
"That's what you wanted to tell me, am I right?" Stiles face lit up with that realization.
"I asked him earlier today." Peter nodded. It was almost eery how well his decision fit in with Stiles' plan. As Derek's beta it would be natural for him stay close to his alpha.
They discussed it for a moment longer but then Peter left so that Stiles could talk to Derek.
In the morning, Peter joined the others when they were heading out for breakfast. Stiles and Derek were not coming with them. Apparently, Stiles was still sleeping and Scott didn't mention Derek when he informed them about Stiles' whereabouts. Peter had to bite his tongue to not call him out on it. Stiles had summoned Derek after Peter had left him last night, he was pretty sure that both of them were sleeping in Stiles' bed right now.
Over breakfast, they were talking about Stiles, of course, and Derek came up as well but the others were mostly worried about Stiles. Scott asked Peter about his opinion but Peter doubted that he would listen to him.
Isaac was more on their side. He was questioning what Scott was saying about Derek, he wanted to get to know the shade before he decided that he was just something Stiles had gotten attached to in lack of somebody real he could turn to. Erica was in between and mostly kept out of that discussion.
When they had finished their meal, Scott went to the counter to order something for Stiles as well. Peter did hear him declining Jane's offer to make something for Derek as well and he saw the one cup of coffee Scott got.
"Nothing for Derek?" He asked which got him a look from Scott.
"Not you too," Scott muttered and paid for the food. Then he stomped out of the diner followed by Isaac and Erica. Peter shook his head and ordered two sandwiches and two coffees to go, he was pretty sure they would come in handy soon. Jane made Derek's favorite and another one for Stiles.
"That his friends?" She asked while they waited for the food.
"Yes," Peter confirmed, not sure if the statement was still true. Stiles had said that he hoped Scott would still be his friend even if he wasn't his alpha any longer but Peter didn't have much hope for that if Scott really showed up at Stiles' door with breakfast for only one person. "I think they're leaving today."
Jane commented that with a grim nod.
Back at the motel, it looked as if Peter had missed the show. Scott was standing on the porch, sulking but a little too close to Stiles' room to not be eavesdropping. Isaac and Erica were in their room but they were watching what was going on outside through the window.
Peter unlocked his door and put the take-out bag and the tray with the cups of coffee on the table and when he looked outside again it was just in time to see Scott and the others hurrying away. Scott was on his phone and talking animatedly.
Instead of going over to Stiles' room, Peter got his phone out and shot him a message, informing him that he had breakfast for both of them. Stiles didn't reply immediately so Peter got his laptop out. At least he could get some work done.
At one point he should tell Scott about his decision but first Peter wanted to know if Stiles had told him his yet. It looked like it but Peter didn't want to jump to assumptions. When there was a knock at his door he thought it would be Stiles, maybe Scott, but when he opened the door, he found Isaac standing there.
"Can I come in?" He asked, hands in his pocket and a sheepish look on his face.
Peter stepped aside to let him in, curious about what was bringing him here.
"Stiles said that he wants to leave." Isaac didn't waste time with pleasantries.
"I know."
"Figured." Isaac didn't seem surprised at all. "Are you leaving as well?"
Peter didn't answer that but it looked as if that was answer enough for Isaac.
"Derek," Isaac said instead. "Scott thinks he's just a very good shade and that Stiles has some wires crossed here."
"I got that feeling," Peter agreed. "Why are you here?"
"What do you think of Derek?" Isaac asked directly. "He is named after your dead nephew after all."
"He is." It had taken some getting used to but now it was kind of a comforting thought. Like naming a child after a beloved relative. Just that a child wouldn't claim the spot of the dead person. Actually, Peter was in the middle of getting some things rolling. If it went according to plan, Derek's identity would be restored and ready by the time he was a real boy. If they actually needed it which was a big if for many reasons.
"Stiles is going to do something stupid, isn't he?" Isaac once again proved that there wasn't much that he didn't notice. "Scott isn't sure what he's up to but he is convinced it's bad."
"Stiles is going to make Derek permanent," Peter confirmed what everybody already knew. Stiles had told them but he had left out the details. Not that he'd known the details yesterday.
"That's not the good kind of magic, isn't it?"
"It's not as dark as Scott thinks," Peter said. "But it is risky."
"He could die."
"Yes."
"And you're okay with that?"
"How often could you have died in the last month alone?" Peter countered. Beacon Hills had calmed down over the years but the Nemeton was still a beacon and it was still hurt and lashing out. There were all kinds of strange people coming to Beacon Hill and the Hale pack had always been there to keep an eye on them. At least there was still somebody with that name in Beacon Hill, living in the Hale house on Hale property. Peter had gifted the house to the pack which he had thought would be his pack until the end. Looked like he had been wrong about that but Malia was still there.
Isaac shifted from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable with the question.
"We all have faced down danger, we all have followed risky plans," Peter reminded him. "Stiles is taking a well-calculated risk and the risk of dying is way smaller than what we have thought it would be just days ago. If he wants to take this risk, it's his decision."
"And then he wants Derek to be his alpha? Why?"
"Have you seen them together?"
They had looked but they hadn't seen. The way Derek was looking at Stiles, they thought it was how every shade looked at Stiles, he was the center of their universe after all, but the way Derek was looking at him was completely different. And Stiles looked back at him the same way. How could they not see that?
"So you and Stiles are leaving to follow an alpha who isn't even real," Isaac summed it up.
"We're working on the real part," was the only thing Peter could say to that. "Does Scott know?"
"I haven't told him." Isaac shook his head. "And I won't."
Isaac left with that but at least Peter had the feeling that he still had a friend in the younger werewolf.
Once he was alone again, Peter checked his phone to see if Stiles had answered his message.
Not hungry but bring the coffee
